Lunar Asylum
by xLosersRuleTheWorldx
Summary: Kelsey Lunar knew working at Arkham would be dangerous, but she was excited to work with the fascinating and disturbed minds of the prisoners residing there. She never expected to get caught up with one of the more dangerous residents there, Killer Croc, nor did she expect for him to find her equally fascinating, which she soon learned wasn't good for her. Croc/OC; Bruce/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Hi everyone... So, yep. I finally decided to do my rewrite of my first fan fic "Lunar Asylum." I'm actually participating in NaNoWriMo this year, so I decided to make this rewrite my project. Obviously, I won't finish it within in a month, but I am confident enough to say that I should be able to reach the 50k word count by November 30th.**

**A lot of things are gonna be changed here. I'm completely taking out some parts and putting new ones in, so it won't exactly be the same story as it was the first time around...**

**ANYWAY, just so we're all good on timeline and things, it takes place after the events of Asylum, but before the events of City. Mainly because I wrote this when City hadn't been out yet... I'll try to write something that makes sense between the events of Asylum and City as much as possible, but not sure how much I can guarantee. **

**Hope you guys enjoy the rewrite. :)**

* * *

><p>"Miss Lunar, are you sure you want to join me in this interview?"<p>

The young intern looked up at the doctor and smiled. "What good is it to be a doctor here at Arkham if you don't even know what you're up against?" she asked, putting on her small metal-framed glasses.

"I'm warning you, Lunar," Gretchen said. "This man won't show you mercy. He's a cold-blooded killer; if he wants to kill you, he will try."

"… Thank you for the warning, Doctor Whistler, but I'm sure I'll be fine."

"_That's what Miss Quinzel thought too…"_ the older woman thought to herself. Then she sighed, shaking her head. She knew better than to try to argue with the enthusiastic young woman.

"All right. You may come along."

Kelsey smiled brightly, her eyes brightening with excitement. "Thank you, Doctor."

Gretchen shook her head and waited for the guards to escort them Gretchen's office. She looked back over at the new intern, Kelsey Lunar. She was a twenty-nine-year-old intern who had been there for the past four weeks. She was very pretty with her smooth, silky cherry red hair and her big, sparkling hazel eyes. Like her, Kelsey had a slight astigmatism with her eyes, so she wore small glasses to help read small print. She had a soft face and was very frail looking, only being five' four with a thin, hourglass figure. One of think that someone like her would be more inclined to work at a bakery or some place, but no.

Instead though, she had a keen interest in the insane criminal minds there at Arkham. She was reviewing her notes about some of the patients Gretchen had written about. Luckily though, unlike Miss Quinzel, the woman was not interested in the solely the Joker. She seemed to be fairly interested in everyone equally, though her eyes tended to drift back to a few names, namely Victor Zsasz and Walyon Jones. Naturally.

Two guards came in to escort Kelsey and Gretchen to the office. As they walked past some of the Category One patients, they yelled and banged on their cells. Gretchen didn't expect any different. These were the rowdier residents, the ones she believed belonged more inside a regular prisoner than an insane asylum. But since they were lackeys and goons of the more dangerous residents, they were to be placed here in Category One. She didn't quite understand it, but she accepted it as orders were orders.

The four of them reached the elevator and just after the doors open, Kelsey tripped inside and fell against the far wall. Gretchen rolled her eyes, shaking her while the guards asked if Kelsey was okay. The young woman blushed, mumbling out a soft thank you and straightening herself up.

Kelsey was careful not to trip again once they reached the office floor. As they walked down the hall, they could see a few other interviews going on. But as they continued to walk forward, Gretchen had paused by Doctor Jameson's room. Doctor Jameson was finishing up an interview with Pamela Isley.

Kelsey's eyes widened a bit. She couldn't help but be a little excited. The real Poison Ivy she had read about in the papers and on file was actually inside that very room. A botanist gone made at the human race for hurting the environment, or her children as she so endearingly called them. Strangely enough, the plants she could control saw her as their mother. Kelsey didn't quite understand the science behind it, but was nonetheless fascinated.

Jameson had a bit of a flustered look on his face as the two guards that were already inside took a hold of Ivy. She gave them a dark look as they escorted her outside of the man's office, though she stopped walking when she caught sight of Kelsey.

Her eyes widened as the beautiful woman smiled seductively at her. "So… we have a new doctor. Nice to meet you. You can call me Ivy."

The intern had opened her mouth to say something back, but she never had a chance as Gretchen stepped in front of her while the guards seemed to move themselves in between the two women and the patient.

"She's just an intern, Pamela," the older doctor said coldly. "Leave her alone."

Ivy let out a soft laugh, that smile still there, though it seemed much more sinister than before. "Hmm… An intern. So it seems that she has much to learn. Tell me… Are you as gullible as poor Harley too?"

Kelsey just blinked as Pamela was roughly pulled away by the two guards escorting her, causing her to hiss as she was taken away. Gullible? Like Harley? Oh, oh… Wait. She remembered that file on Harleen Quinzel. Though she didn't go by that name anymore. Anyone who did try to call her by that caused the woman to fly into a fit of rage. Frightening.

Once the guards were certain that Ivy was far from them, they escorted the women to Gretchen's office. One guard by the door inside while the other one stood outside. Ever since that last break out, they were even tighter on security. With good reason though. So many people had been hurt and died… Kelsey had been glad that she hadn't applied for the paid internship prior to that time. She probably would have been among the dead as well.

Gretchen moved to sit at her desk while Kelsey sat in the far back corner by the filing cabinets. The older doctor already had her files in front of her, adding some notes here and there to the documents. While she worked on that, Kelsey decided to read on the notes she had of Ivy, having nothing unless to do as they waited for the Zsasz to be escorted to the office.

"Doctor Whistler?"

Gretchen looked up.

"Do you think that perhaps we shouldn't have male doctors interview Isley anymore."

Gretchen blinked, titling her head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Well…" Kelsey quickly looked through her notes again to make sure she hadn't missed any names. "According to these notes, it seems all of Isley's doctors have been men. Also, she always seems to use her pheromones to make them fall for her, leading them to their deaths… I think it would better if we have women interview her. The death rate may even go down…"

Gretchen was already shaking her head. "It doesn't matter if we have male doctors or female doctors interview her. While yes, her pheromones only do work on men, Isley is capable of others means to seduce women to do her bidding."

Her eyes widened. "She can?"

Gretchen nodded. "We had assumed the same as you did, so we replaced her guards with women. She was still able to use them to escape before she murdered them."

Kelsey went back to inspecting more of the notes. She must have missed that reading or simply hadn't gotten that part in Ivy's file. But before she could begin reading anything, the door opened as two guards entered the room with Zsasz in tow.

The man was strapped down to a wheelchair. He had a facial mask over his mouth, reminding Kelsey vaguely of Hannibal Lector. The man tugged at his wrist bindings, twitching in his seat every now and then. His eyes wandered around the room, occasionally jerking around to inspect different parts of the office.

Then his eyes fell on Kelsey, her pulse starting to race. She should have figured that she would spark interest in the man. She was something new, something different than whatever he normally saw when he was in here. A man like Zsasz liked new things. They were potentially new targets for him, new scars to add.

It was both utterly fascinating and terrifying.

Gretchen reached over and switched on the recorder. She leaned back into her seat and faced the man with a calm, cool expression. Kelsey picked up her pen and notepad, anxious to see how these meetings went.

Then, she spoke.

"Victor," she said in a monotone and unfazed voice. "The last time we saw each other was last week. I'd like to pick up on that again."

He said nothing at first, still looking at Kelsey.

"Victor."

It was enough to make the man look at her.

"I want to talk about what we discussed last week again."

"Why?"

Oh God, that voice. Kelsey couldn't help but to feel a tingle go down her spine. Such a sinister, dark voice… Like a snake waiting for the kill. In this case, a snake with a sharp knife ready to cut deep into your neck for blood to spurt out everywhere. Something Kelsey knew the man would probably take joy, if not pride, in.

"Why would you care about my work?" he asked darkly, titling his head. "I already know how you view it. You find it to be 'murder.'"

"Victor, you killed four guards, their wives, and almost their children. It's murder, no matter how you would like others to view it."

Zsasz laughed, clearly amused with the notion that what he did was something wrong. "Really now… I thought I was doing them a favor."

"How so?"

Zsasz sighed, shaking his head. "You're so foolish and naïve, Doctor. They were all bored with their lives. They had even said so in front of me… If you don't believe me, then don't. I cut for reasons, not just because you think I'm having fun… Though I can't say I'm not."

Kelsey observed them as they seemed to argue in a civilized matter back and forth. It was just like the interview tapes she had listened to do. They always argued about the same thing: Zsasz's 'work' was murder. She jotted down some of her own notes about the man, knowing that she couldn't just rely on the notes in front of her for everything.

Kelsey felt someone looking at her again. Slowly, she glanced up and saw Zsasz eyeing her. Even when Gretchen tried to make him turn his attention back to her again, he still continued to watch her. The intern finally looked up at him completely, seeing that he had no intention of looking away. She could feel him studying over her, taking his own mental notes on her. Lord only knew what was he was thinking, but she hoped shed wouldn't have to find out.

Zsasz looked at Gretchen and said, "Well… I see you've brought a new guest. Another new intern?"

Her eyes narrowed. She knew that tone. His interest had been peaked and that was never a good sign for anyone. Especially not for the person who had caught his attention. "Leave her alone, Victor. She's only here to observe–"

"– observe a true doctor at work?" Zsasz finished for her, giving a dark chuckle.

Gretchen recognized that chuckle, causing her lips to press together in a tight line. She had to think of something to take his attention away from the intern. Zsasz was unstable, a maniac in the best term she knew. He had no empathy and he enjoyed lacking it. She had worked with him for years – she knew exactly what he was like and capable of.

Then Kelsey slowly stood up and picked up her chair. Gretchen eyes widened, but remained silent when she moved her chair next to hers. A good distance away from the patient and close enough to her in case something happened. Not to mention the guards in the room seemed to be on higher alert now that Kelsey was getting more involved and Zsasz was just watching her intently, his eyes glowing with curiosity.

She sat down next to the older doctor and started looking at her notes again. It was mainly to just skim over everything she could on the patient in front of her before starting anything. Not to mention it greatly helped calmed her nerves.

Finally, knowing she couldn't stall much longer, she took a deep breath and looked up at the prisoner with a soft expression and nodded to him. "Hello, Zsasz," Kelsey said calmly, even though her heart was beating hard in her chest. "I'm Kelsey Lunar. As you had guessed before, I am the new intern here. This is the beginning of my fifth week here."

He said nothing, his eyes dancing in delight. He was clearing enjoy her speak, growing more and more interested in this new person.

Kelsey glanced at Gretchen, wondering if she should stop or not. But the woman didn't discourage her, so she continued.

"… During this time, I've been reading over your file and have been listening to some of the recorded sessions available to me. I've also have some notes taken on you in my own attempt to understand you better."

Zsasz laughed once. "Aren't you the curious intern?" he said, mocking with an impressed tone. She kept a straight face though, allowing him to ask, "Tell me… What do you find so fascinating about me?

She cracked a smile, deciding that she should approach him a bit differently. Instead of treating him like a monster, see him as an equal. That was one of the lessons she remembered from her schooling… Of course, most patients weren't Arkham criminals.

"You're not the only patient, Zsasz," she said with a small smile before she looked down at her notes. "I safely say that you are really proud of your work."

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Yes… I suppose from your perspective, that's a very good question. But your perspective isn't necessarily normal, is it?"

"Normal? Normal…" He shook his head and laughed. "Normal is simple. Stupid. Boring. And that is why I do what I do. I make life… less boring. Less normal. This world is filled with people who are normal, who are bored. So… I help them. I make them less bored. I let people have… fun."

"How can people have fun if they're dead, though, Zsasz?"

"It's certainly fun for everyone else… I'm not normal… and because of me, you and all the other little interns and doctors here are having fun… Aren't you, Kelsey?"

Her stomach twisted a bit when he said her name. It was like a hiss… He was doing it on purpose. He was having fun. To make it worse, he had a point. She wasn't having fun, so to speak, but she was interested. Just like the other doctors here. They were interested in these people. They wanted to figure them out, to cure them. So yes, they were having… fun.

And Zsasz was very much aware of the truth, which made him having even more fun.

She let out a soft sigh and took off her glasses to rub her eyes. "Yes… You do have a point there."

Gretchen and Zsasz both seemed surprised by her response. They had both thought that she would deny it. Gretchen definitely would have. She didn't want to give Zsasz a reason to continue doing what he did.

Kelsey continued carefully. "I wouldn't call it fun… But rather interest. I have an interest in you. So does Doctor Whistler. And all the other doctors here have an interest in you and the other patients. If you didn't have your… fun, we wouldn't have ours."

"So you see why my work isn't murder as everyone claims it to be?"

"No," she stated firmly, reaching over to put back on her glasses. "What you're doing is still murder… And I think you know it is too."

He raised an eyebrow.

She looked down at the files and point down at some notes with her pen. "You know that you're killing people. You know that you're having fun… And because you're having fun, you don't want to change. You have no intention of changing either, do you?"

"Miss Lunar."

Kelsey bit her lip as she looked to Gretchen, whose eyes were narrowed at her. Damn it, she had messed up. It was usually looked down upon to tell patients about their reluctance to change and how the patients found their work to be something good. The point of these sessions was to focus away from that and make the patients see the wrongs of their actions. The entire point of them being their was to reform them, not try to make them feel like what they were doing was acceptable or something that didn't really need to be fixed.

"My apologies, Doctor Whistler," she said, putting her head down and shrinking back into her seat. She should have thought out her words more carefully. At least she had made this mistake when she was an intern and not when she was an actual employee there.

But before Gretchen could continue with the interview, Zsasz gave a dark, amused laugh. All eyes went on him as he just stared at Kelsey, shaking his head as his laugh died down.

"You're very… _interesting,_ Miss Lunar," he said as his chuckles died down. "You're not like the other doctors, oh no… What are they teaching you wishful doctors in school nowadays?"

"Zsasz–"

He ignored Gretchen and continued, making Kelsey's eyes widened as he seemed to try and lean forward in his chair, as if trying to get closer to her. "I think you've opened up many… fun possibilities, Miss Lunar. Very, very interesting… Hmmm, perhaps I should start thinking of a place where I can put a mark… for you, Kelsey."

Gretchen had heard enough and stood up, looking to the two guards who seemed just as tense as she did from the heavy atmosphere. She pointed to the bound up patient. "Take him back to his cell. I can see that need in him again."

The guards didn't need to be told twice. They quickly wheeled him away and out of the office, his dark laughter ringing in Kelsey's ears as he disappeared from view. The door shut, making her look up to see Gretchen looking at her with narrowed eyes.

She cleared her throat and bit her bottom lip. Crap, she had really screwed this up, hadn't she? She didn't think she had said anything wrong, but what did she know? She was just an intern. She hadn't been working here nearly as long as Gretchen had.

"You were only meant to observe, Miss Lunar. You were not here to attempt to conduct. the interview."

"I'm sorry, Doctor Whistler," she said sincerely, bowing her head. "I didn't mean to overstep my boundaries… When you didn't say anything, I-I thought it was all right for me to speak."

Gretchen sighed. Yes, she had at first that it would have been fine for Kelsey to speak. She had not anticipated for it to take a darker turn and for Zsasz to get that interested in her. She should have never have let the intern speak in the first place. She didn't know what she was doing… This was the first time she was seeing an interview go on in person.

"It's all right," she said. "However, with the other patients, I hope you won't do that again."

Kelsey nodded. At least she wasn't going to be in too much trouble or lose any pay. "Yes, Doctor Whistler. Do you have any more interviews to do today?"

"No, not today. However, I have two tomorrow – one with Edward Nigma at eleven and another with Jonathan Crane at three. You may join me if you wish. Please do not interfere this time unless I give you verbal permission."

Kelsey smiled brightly. "Thank you very much!"

* * *

><p>While most of the doctors and interns went home at the end of the day, Kelsey had stayed behind with Gretchen and few of the other interns. She had been a bit glad that she had stayed behind late that evening, since as she was walking out, she had been able to see Batman come by with Commissioner Gordon and a dozen other officers.<p>

He had been able to apprehend the escaped Clayface, who was currently frozen into ice, and had arrived at Arkham to return the escapee to his cell. She had been a bit surprised to see him at first, mainly because it had been a long time since she had seen the man. It was a bit nice to see a familiar face, even though he was wearing a mask.

Standing off to the side with a few of the other interns, she watched as Batman handed over Clayface and four guards transported him back to his specially made and renovated cell. Gordon had pulled him aside to speak with him in private, making her give a soft laugh. She heard a colleague call her name, so she turned to them to speak, only for her to trip over her own feet and tumble to the ground with a hard thud.

Unbeknownst to her as she was being helped up and worried over, she caught the attention of Batman and Gordon. They watched as she stood up, giving an embarrassed laugh as her cheeks turned red.

Gordon sighed and shook her head. He had been around here before whenever that woman was around. This wasn't the first time she had fallen… Hell, he helped her up once since she had tripped on some cables near him the other day. A sweet girl, but damn clumsy.

"It's that new intern again… I swear; she's going to fall into a pit on day and get stuck in there if she's lucky enough to not break her neck."

"Who is she?"

"Kelsey Lunar. In the lower levels of Arkham, she's really popular." Gordon huffed and rubbed his neck. He hated knowing that fact, but whenever he went down there, he would occasionally hear about her in passing. Not by her name, just as "the new intern." Scumbags, those men were… But at least they were just lowlife, idiot thugs, unlike some of the other residents at this asylum.

He shook his head before reaching under his glasses to rub at his eyes. "Hopefully it's just all talk and nothing more, but nowadays, you can never count on anything, can you?"

When he didn't get an answer, he looked up at the man, only to find that Batman was nowhere in sight. He blinked and looked around for a moment, but then he realized that was foolish. He came and went as he pleased, usually for the benefit of the people.

Still, Gordon couldn't help but to wonder where the man went off this time, but he decided to not think about it for the time being. He had his own job to do, after all.

* * *

><p>Kelsey finally got back home around nine. Normally, she went home with Doctor Sarah Cassidy, since they lived in the same apartment complex and, coincidently enough, on the same floor. However, Sarah had left work long before she had, so Gretchen was able to give her a ride, though she berated her for not buying a car yet.<p>

It was embarrassing, to say the least. Kelsey knew she needed one and it wasn't like she actually enjoyed not owning a car, but she just couldn't afford it right now. She hoped that after the internship, she could apply for a position there and then actually make enough money to start saving up for a car. She didn't want to rely on people forever for transportation.

"Be at work tomorrow by nine," Gretchen said as Kelsey got out of the car. "I need you tomorrow so I can critique and review your notes."

Kelsey nodded. "Yes, Doctor Whistler."

Gretchen waited until Kelsey walked into the apartment complex before driving off. She gave a soft sigh as she rubbed the back of her neck, pulling her apartment keys out of her purse as she got into the elevator to the fourth floor.

She was so glad that the day was over. All she wanted to do was have a quick dinner, take a nice long shower, and then go to sleep. After that interview, she and the other interns were made to do lab work, which was never fun, but nonetheless, had to be done. Still, the hours that went into it seemed to last longer than most.

When she reached her floor, she quickly walked down the hall to her 429 apartment. Just as she unlocked and opened the door, she could hear her home phone ringing. Quickly, she closed and locked the door behind her, rushing over to the phone over in her kitchen

Just as it hit the last ring, she grabbed it and brought it to her ear. "Hello?"

"_Since when did you take an internship at Arkham?"_

Kelsey couldn't stop herself – she had to laugh. He was the last person she was expecting to call her and considering she hadn't spoken with him in a while, hearing that question with the concerned tone in his voice like a father berating his daughter just made her burst into giggles. "Well, it's good to hear from you too, Bruce. By the way, nice costume today. I couldn't even recognize you."

There was silence for a few moments before a heavy huff came. _"Then how did you?"_

"Bruce… Come on. How long have I known you? Not to mention that you were the first man I ever fell in love with. Even when you dress like a bat, I'll know who you are. Anyway, how have you been?"

"_Kelsey."_ She flinched at the harsh tone. He didn't seem to like the fact that she was trying to change the subject, which she had tried but obviously failed at. _"Will you answer my question?"_

She finally gave out a defeated sigh. "We both know that I've _always_ been fascinated with criminal minds, Bruce. My degree's in criminal psychology and I had gotten that minor in sociology. Working at Arkham is my dream. You know that."

Of course he knew that; it was all she had talked about whenever the subject of future occupations came up. And he had always tried to steer here away into doing something less dangerous each time she mentioned it.

"_Kelsey… You're putting yourself in unnecessary danger. You shouldn't be working there."_

Kelsey couldn't help but to get somewhat annoyed. He was treated her like a child now and it was getting a bit ridiculous. Especially since it wasn't as if she was the only one working there. There were plenty of others who worked at Arkham, but Bruce certainly wasn't calling those people up and telling them to quit their jobs.

"Bruce, I'm not going to quit my job just because you tell me to, so please don't try to convince me otherwise."

"_Those people could kill you, Kelsey – why don't you understand that?"_

Of course she understood that! Everyone there understood the dangers of working with the types of inmates that worked at Arkham! God, he was just making her more and more irritated each time he opened his mouth… It reminded her of when they were dating, Christ.

"And if they do, what are you going to do?" she snapped. "Obviously you won't kill them to avenge me or anyone else."

Bruce was silent for a few moments, making Kelsey immediately regret saying that. That had totally been uncalled for. Of course he wouldn't kill any of them. Or anyone for that matter. It would go against his morals and what he stood for. Especially considering what had happened to his parents. Now she just felt like a complete bitch.

"Bruce," she said softly, hoping to get his attention. "I'm sorry. That was mean."

She heard him give a heavy huff on the other end of the phone. _"No, it's fine,"_ he muttered. She could hear him take another breath to say something else, but then he simply sighed. _"Just don't get yourself hurt… Which includes not tripping over anything."_

Kelsey blushed and gave an embarrassed cough. Damn it, he had seen her trip. "I'll try my best. Anyway, I really need to get to bed soon, so we can talk later okay?"

"_All right. Hey, why don't you come up and visit me?"_

She raised an eyebrow at the notion. "All the way to Wayne Manor?"

"_I'll come pick you up; I know you don't have a car yet."_

Well, at least she didn't have to pay a taxi far to get up there. And she hadn't actually seen him face to face in a long while, so she figured it couldn't hurt. "Okay. When?"

"_I'm hosting a dinner party on Saturday, so why not come then? You can sleep over since I'm sure you don't want to go back home late."_

She chuckled. "I guess I'll pack a small bag then."

The billionaire gave his own laugh too. _"All right, I'll see you Saturday."_

"Bye, Bruce."

They hung up, allowing her to let out a soft breath. Well, at least now she could get some rest… She moved over to the closet to hang up her coat, stretching a bit. She didn't really feel like cooking anything… Maybe she could just make herself a sandwich and have some milk before taking a shower and heading off to the bed.

As she moved back into the kitchen, she thought about what she was going to wear for the dinner party. He hadn't said if it was a formal thing or not. She didn't want to chance it either, so she would probably have to call later. Even though they had broken up a long time ago, they were still good friends. Besides, it seemed to her that Bruce basically saw her like a little sister and that he needed to look out for her. It wasn't very awkward really.

Well, it had been a little bit when she had uncovered his secret. After he had saved her from being attacked by some thugs about two years ago, Alfred had picked the wrong moment to contact him in the Batmobile and she had accidentally discovered his identity. He had been mortified at first, but she was able to reassure him that she could trust him and that she would never tell, a promise that she had kept.

She suddenly felt her cellphone vibrate in her jean pocket. She blinked and pulled it out, surprised to see that it was a text from Sarah.

_Hey, Kelsey. What're you doing tomorrow?_

Kelsey quickly gave a reply.

_Hey, Sarah. Doctor Whistler wants me to categorizer some reports and review another pair of notes she wrote over Bane and Quinzel. She's letting me watch her interviews with Nigma and Crane. I'm pretty excited about it too. _

It only took Sarah three minutes to give a reply.

_Well, you may have to cancel your interviews with Gretchen. I need you do something for me, if you're up for it. Let me warn you now: it will NOT be EASY for you. Hell, it's not easy for me and I've been working at Arkham for a long time. Would you like to do it?_

She raised an eyebrow. If Sarah didn't want to do it, then why would she want her to do it? Quickly, she typed: _Tell me what it is first!_

Kelsey was not expecting the reply she got back.

_I need you to interview Waylon Jones for me tomorrow. _

Kelsey just stared at the text for a good solid minute. _The_ Waylon Jones, better known as Killer Croc. Though she had seen him in the paper and despite having worked at Arkham for almost a month now, she had actually never seen him in person. Mainly because he was so dangerous and only seasoned doctors were assigned to work with him. Gretchen had been in charge of his case until he was switched over to Sarah. Kelsey had read a few of Gretchen's notes and listened to some interview tapes with him, but she had never seen him or talked to him. She never thought she would ever get the opportunity to either.

Most people would have told her that she was very fortunate. Croc was a cannibalistic murder, who had no sympathy for mankind. Then again, no patient at Arkham had compassion for mankind. They were all killers. But Croc… Croc was different. Like Ivy, he hated humanity and considered himself to be nonhuman. He even despised his fellow prisoners. He was the reason Aaron Cash was missing a hand…

Shaking off those thoughts, she sent back her reply: _…I'm just an intern. Won't he try to kill me?_

It took a few minutes for a reply to come back, but Kelsey could clearly see how desperate Sarah was to get someone else to do this for her with her next text.

_Please? I'll pay you the interview ($550). I really don't want to do the interview… Ever since I saw Cash's get his hand ripped off, I've always been afraid to do any interviews… Just this once, please?_

Her eyes widened. Five hundred fifty dollars? She could put that money towards a car. Besides, it was just one interview. If she didn't ever want to do it again, she would tell Sarah to find someone else to cover for her. Besides, interviewing Croc could be good practice… And she definitely needed that. Though she would have preferred someone easier, she had to go with what was given to her.

She texted back: _I'll take the interview. You're telling Doctor Whistler for me, though, since this was your idea. What time's the interview?_

Her final reply was: _The interview will be at 3. Thank you so much; I really didn't want to this interview. And don't worry, I'll tell Gretchen for you. She'll object, but she won't stop you. Oh! Just so you know, Croc has a collar around the neck. Cash will give you the remote to control it so he can't hurt you Just don't do anything to make him angry. That's when he's at his scariest. I'll be there to get you at 8 tomorrow morning. Have a good night!_

Kelsey sighed as she put her phone away and moved to lay down the couch. She didn't except to interview anyone by herself for three more weeks. But no. Instead, she would do her first interview tomorrow with one of the most dangerous inmates in Arkham.

In her opinion, he was probably the worst; no one but him was a cannibalistic murder. The other inmates would try to kill her, but only Croc would try to actually eat her alive. It was scary to even think about. There were a lot of ways to go out, but being eaten alive? She wasn't sure if she wanted to die like that…

No, no, she was being ridiculous. She would be fine… At least that was what she would have to tell herself tonight to make her go to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

The alarm went off at six-thirty that morning, forcing her out of her sleep. Kelsey grumbled a bit and gave a small whine, reaching over to slap her hand over the snooze button. She lied there for a few moments before forcing herself to sit up and blink the sleep out of her eyes. The alarm going off again jolted her out of her sleepy state and she shut it off, finally getting out of bed to get ready for the day.

As she moved to the bathroom to begin brushing her teeth, her mind wandered off into her childhood. She couldn't remember much in the early years of it, except for living in an orphanage until she was about five. As for her biological parents, she didn't know much about them other than what her adoptive mother had told her.

Her biology mother, Mary Luther, had an office worker with a weak heart and her father, Arnold Luther, was a police officer. Mary died when giving birth and Arnold had been so devastated that he end up losing both his job and his mind, turning to drugs. Naturally, as her adoptive mother had put it, Arnold wasn't suited to be a father and Kelsey had ended up in child services. She never did find out what happened to Arnold.

She had been one of the lucky ones. Her orphanage wasn't some rundown place. Maybe because the officers who had separated her from her father had once been his friends and had felt pity for her; she actually wasn't too sure, but at least her orphanage was nice. The social workers and other children had all been very kind, so she wasn't sad there. It wasn't like she could even remember her mother or father very well either, so that had something to do it.

Then came the day she had been adopted by Pollyanna Lunar, a woman who couldn't have children of her own but had always wanted her own family. The woman had been so kind and so loving, a good parent who treated Kelsey as if she was precious and loved her most in the world. Even though she was always working hard to support the both of them and sometimes Kelsey didn't get to see her, she loved her mother just as much as her mother loved her. She was a single mother, so she had to work. Apparently, her ex-husband committed suicide long before Kelsey had even been born. According to Pollyanna, he had gotten caught in an embezzlement scheme and "took the easy way out of it." Despite never meeting the man, Kelsey believed that he was one of the reasons she became fascinating in criminal behavior.

After graduating high school, she went to Gotham University and graduated with top honors before moving into graduate school. During this time, she was also taking other paid internships around the city, gaining some professional experience she needed to apply for the internship at Arkham Asylum. And when she had been accepted, she moved out of Pollyanna's house in Morganville and moved to her apartment now in Gotham. Pollyanna had been worried at first, but she knew that this was what Kelsey wanted to do, only giving her a fair warning to be careful.

Kelsey then sighed after brushing her teeth, spitting out the excess fluids into the sink. Then she began her morning routine, hopping in the shower in an attempt to completely wake herself up while she washed her face and hair. Once she was done, she dried off and fixed her hair before picking out a work outfit for the day, ended up being a nice blue shirt and some black slacks. She was glad that no one was expected to dress too nicely at the Asylum, but it wasn't like there was a reason to, especially the doctors – they always wore lab coats anyway.

Once she was all ready for the day, she went into the kitchen to start making herself some breakfast and flipped out the small television in their to give some background noise. Despite only barely paying attention, she caught the news that Batman apprehended Two-Face last night after he tried robbing the Gotham Museum. That would definitely lead to more notes taking if Two-Face was one of Gretchen's patients…

Then again, today, she didn't have to worry about Gretchen's patients. She had her own patient to worry about.

After making herself a bagel sandwich and some coffee, someone knocked on her door at eight. Once she was done with her food, Kelsey walked over to the door, grabbing her coat and bag in the hallway.

When she opened it, Sarah was standing there with a small smile on her face. Kelsey smiled back.

"Ready for your first solo interview?" she said, probably in an attempt to make light of a rather dangerous situation.

Kelsey couldn't help but to give a small laugh. Ready? Hardly. She had already attempted to help with the interview with Zsasz and that had turned out to be for the worse. Gretchen was still mad about her for that and probably told the Warden. "As ready as I'll ever be, I guess."

She grabbed her keys and stepped out of her apartment, closing and locking the door behind her. Once she had put her coat on, she followed Sarah to the elevator as they went to the underground parking garage and walked over to the black car parked in the corner.

"Well, I called Gretchen last night," Sarah said as she got into the car.

Kelsey raised an eyebrow as they buckled in, Sarah starting the engine. She didn't think that Sarah would tell the older woman until today when they were at work.

"How did that go?

"As expected, she didn't take it well."

"Which means…?"

Sarah bit her bottom lip as she backed up before driving out of the garage. "She was down right furious. She said that you weren't ready and wouldn't be ready to interview Jones for a long time. She told me about what happened with Zsasz."

Kelsey flinched. Great, more people had to learn about her blunder. "Does that mean I can't?"

"No, you still can, so long as you have supervision by me… But I won't be in the cell with you."

She blinked. "The cell?"

Sarah nodded. "After Crash had gotten his hand bitten off… The Warden decided that all interviews should be conducted in his cell since it was seen as too dangerous to let him out of his cell for too long."

"… That seems like a terrible idea."

"Because it _is_ a terrible idea."

Kelsey just sighed and leaned back into her seat, hugging her bag tightly. Now she couldn't help but to be even more anxious about this interview. In Croc's cell, his domain? Yes, she would have Sarah and guards with her, but still. Would it be enough?

According to his file, most likely not.

* * *

><p>When they arrived at work, Cash had been there to escort Sarah to her office while other guard was there to take Kelsey to see Gretchen in hers. As she suspected, she still wasn't keen on the idea of her interviewing Croc. In fact, once the guard left, Gretchen's anger seemed to increase and all she could do was sit there in the chair across from the older doctor's spot with her head down.<p>

"Are you insane, Miss Lunar?!" she demanded. "Have you any idea how dangerous of a patient Jones is?! You do not have the proper experience or training to even think of interviewing him!"

"I-I thought I was doing Sa- D-Doctor Cassidy a favor… She seemed afraid to–"

"And you're not afraid?"

"… Well, I…" Kelsey couldn't find her voice. All right, yes, she was a bit scared, but it was more of an anxious feeling than great fright. She believed that so long as the guards were around, she would be fine. And Sarah would be there with her; it would just be her doing the interview while she was being supervised.

"You shouldn't have accepted, Miss Lunar."

"… I'll be fine," she assured her unconfidently. "They have that collar on him, so I'll be–"

"As if that neckpiece can prevent him from eating anyone alive," Gretchen murmured under her breath, shaking her head. God, this was a nightmare-inducing headache that she did not need. Sarah was being completely irresponsible… But this was not the first time she had begged someone to take her interviews.

"Doctor Whistler, please," Kelsey said, trying calm her advisor's nerves. It didn't seem to be working though, but she still tried her best. She didn't want to give the woman a migraine. "I am perfectly capable of managing myself."

Gretchen's eyes narrowed at the younger woman. "You can barely walk a straight line without falling."

A blush came over Kelsey's face. She wanted to deny it, but Gretchen had a point. She was a klutz and ended up tripping over her own feet all the time. Hell, just this morning, she had stumbled out of the car and fell to one knee. At least she hadn't face planted like she had yesterday.

"… I can still take care of myself even if I tend to trip over air."

Gretchen shook her head. "It's not a matter of taking care of yourself, Miss Lunar – it's a matter of your safety!"

"B-But I already accepted the offer and I can't back out when I already accepted it."

Gretchen felt her headache get worse. She would definitely need some aspirin later. But yes, Kelsey had a point. She had accepted the offer and while she was against it, she couldn't stop her so long as Sarah was in the cell with her while the interview was being conducted. She could only hope that nothing went wrong and that she didn't do what she had done with Zsasz the day before.

Seeing that Gretchen had gone silent, Kelsey let out a small sigh and reached into her bag to hand the woman her notes. She figured that she might as well try to change the subject before the older doctor popped a vein. "You said you wanted to look at these?"

Gretchen eyed the documents before letting out a heavy breath, taking the papers from her. "Yes, thank you."

"Um, will I still get to join you on your other interviews?"

"Only the one with Nigma," Gretchen said, sitting down to read over the intern's notes. "You have to go to Sarah's office at one so you can view her notes about Jones."

Well, at least she wasn't banning her from the interviews completely, even if she was angry. She would definitely need to try and get on Gretchen's good side again if she wanted to keep attending these sessions.

XXX

Kelsey sat in the corner again and the Riddler sat at the table, playing with his hat. Unlike most Category Nine patients, he was not strapped to a wheelchair or handcuffed, allowing him to do what he wished with his hands. He seemed much more calm and willing to talk when he wasn't restrained. Not to mention that while an incredible genius, the Riddler was not the strongest and could do little physical damage on his own.

Still, having his mind for a weapon was a dangerous thing, hence the guards still being in the room in case something wrong.

Gretchen turned on the tape recorder, sitting up straight and eyeing the prisoner for a moment as he continued to play with his hat before flipping it in the air where it landed on his head perfectly.

"Edward."

He looked to her with a smug smile.

"You seem quite pleased today."

"And why wouldn't I be?" he said frivolously, his voice bouncing throughout the room. Kelsey had always noted that the Riddler always spoke the clearest and loudest in his interview recordings. "I get to see your bright and shining face this morning. I would have dreaded it if I saw Doctor Arkive. That man is so mindless, unlike you, Miss Gretchen."

"Edward," she said sternly, eyes narrowing at him. "Because of you, he's still in the hospital."

The Riddler shrugged, leaning back in his seat and kicking his legs up on the table. "I gave him the warning. 'Humpty Dumpty had a great fall, but he's not the only heavy thing that falls.' An insect could have figured it out."

"How is a man suppose to figure out you were going to drop the ceiling lights on his body?"

"If he actually knew how to deduce a simple riddle, he would have known and wouldn't be in the hospital now, would he?"

"Edward, he could have died."

"And I would have rid the world of the stupid!" he shouted, moving his legs off the table to slam his heels down on the ground. Kelsey wasn't surprised as she quickly jotted down some notes. This man was known to completely switch personalities whenever he was angered. Bi-polar tendencies, she marked. Or just aggressive mood swings. "If this blasted world only had geniuses like me, we wouldn't be in the terrible shape we're in!"

Gretchen forced herself to take a deep breath. Every patient was different when it came to their goals… Zsasz wanted to make the world more fun. The Riddler wanted to created the perfect world if geniuses and to do that, those he dubbed as intellectually inferior needed to be terminated. Both men dangerous in their own right. "It's due to that thinking that you're considered a threat."

The Riddler seemed to calm down a bit, though he gave an irritated sigh, shaking his head. "Oh, Doctor Whistler, you had been so promising. But you seem to be just as dense as Doctor Arkive."

"You're misguided," Gretchen assured him. "Your riddles are threats, not harmless fun."

"Threats and riddles are two very different things…" His voice trailed off as he glanced at Kelsey. He hadn't noticed her before since she was in the far back corner. He smirked when she met with him. "Oh. It's the intern. I've heard so much about you, Miss Lunar."

Kelsey just slowly nodded, swallowing a bit. If she didn't know about her fellow interns and their interviewing encounters, she would have thought that she had a giant target on her body that made everyone interested in her. But no – the other interns were also having trouble with some of the patients getting excited with the new face.

It had been like this ever since Doctor Quinzel had been manipulated by the Joke to become Harley Quinn. They were probably thinking that they could do the same to some new worker and make them their lackey. Or at least into some puppet or tool for entertainment.

"Now, why are you sitting all the way over there?" he asked. She could help but to stiffen at the tone. He was acting as if he were sad that she was away, but she knew better. He wanted to have some fun with her. Probably just like he had had fun with Doctor Arkive.

"She's merely here to observe, Edward," Gretchen said harshly, trying to turn his attention back to her.

It didn't work. "Miss Lunar, come now, I'm sure you wish to observe a genius at work more closely."

She opened and closed her mouth, glancing at Gretchen for a sign at what to do. Should she say something to him? Or would that make things worse? She couldn't just ignore him though. According to his file, ignoring the man only made him more aggressive and even hostile. And the last thing she wanted to do was have ceiling lights dropped on her too.

When Gretchen just remained silent and the Riddler's gaze started to darken, she found her voice and chose to speak.

"I'm perfectly fine right here," she said, sitting up straight. "I can see and hear everything just fine from here."

He scoffed, throwing back his head. At least the answer had amused him and didn't anger him. Not that making him amused would do anything… And she saw him stand up, she stiffened in her seat. The guards immediately pointed their guns at him as Gretchen shot up to her feet.

"Edward, sit down. _Now_."

He just held up his hands. "Now, now, let's be civilized here! We're all intelligent human beings… Well, at least I can confirm that I am, especially compared to such animals who feel the need to shoot and kill everything."

"Sit back down, you freak–"

"Don't talk to me, monkey," he said darkly, not even looking at the guard who had the gun pointed at him. With his hands still raised, he stepped over to Kelsey, who just stared at the man with wide eyes.

He looked over her. A young pretty little thing. But she looked simple, much like that idiotic Doctor Young. He wondered if he would have another foolish woman to deal with. That woman had been so easily tricked by the Joker… The overly ambitious usually were the ones to fall and die hard.

He gave a small chuckle. "Tell me, Miss Lunar? Do you think you're clever? Do you think you're not an idiot?"

Kelsey hesitated. No, she didn't think she was an idiot, but they both knew that the Riddler did think she was. Taking a deep breath, she said, "I don't think that I'm completely stupid."

The Riddler seemed entertained with the response. "Well then… if that's the case, Miss Lunar, would you like to hear a riddle?"

Her eyes widened. Crap, she had done the wrong thing again! Just how stupid was she?! She should have just confirmed the Riddler's assumption and said that she was a moron! Especially since she had made the foolish error of trying to make it seem like she was as smart as the Riddler wanted people to be.

"Sit down, Edward!" Gretchen shouted, the guards now moving to grab him.

The Riddler didn't resist as he was roughly apprehended by the two guards and shoved back down into his seat. One guard forced him to remain seated while other guard moved his body in front of Kelsey, as if to try and protect her in case the Riddler attempted anything.

He laughed, clearly still amused. All it took was that simple phrase and everyone just jumped to their feet. It was so much fun, watching these idiots squirm like worms. They were so foolish, and yet, he couldn't help to have fun with these inferior apes.

"Oh, you all really do need to settle down."

"I think that is enough for today," Gretchen said coldly, moving to shut off the tape, only to stop when the Riddler laughed again.

"Oh, it's only a little harmless riddle! I can assure you…" He rolled his head to look back at Kelsey, who sat up when their eyes met. "Come on, answer me this, it's rather simple: What can duplicate you, but at the same time, replace you?"

Kelsey just sat there. She knew the answer only because she had heard the riddle before. But his answer to this riddles was not the same. She had heard about the riddle he had given to Doctor Young when she was still alive. It was morbid, horrible, and it was to only make the Riddler laugh.

She knew she had to answer. She feared that if she didn't, something would happen to her. She didn't know what to say though. She wasn't a genius and she didn't know what was going through his mind! She started grabbing at straws now, trying to guess what the answer was, even if it wasn't as morbid as she probably should have made it.

"Guards, get him out of here," Gretchen ordered, not liking where Edward was taking this. It didn't seem like a threat, but one could never been too cautious with this man.

The guard holding the prisoner roughly yanked him up to his feet, the other guard coming to his side and forcing his hands behind his back to cuff them. He rolled his eyes and let out a dramatic sigh, annoyed with how these people were overreacting.

"A little harmless riddle never hurt anyone."

"Your riddles are never harmless," Gretchen said, eyes narrowed at him.

A small smirk crawled onto his face. "Well… I suppose you have me there, Doctor." He looked to Kelsey, who seemed to be mumbling something to herself. He raised an eyebrow. Was she actually trying to guess something? "Speak up, Miss Lunar, we can't hear you."

Her eyes widened as she looked up. Oh crap, he had heard her?! Stiffening, she leaned back in her seat, holding her notes to her chest as he was forced to walk. But he was digging his feet into the ground, trying to hear what she had to say.

"Cl-Clayface?"

Everyone seemed to pause at that. But they all looked to the Riddler, who just stared at her with a blank expression and his head titled.

"… What did you say?"

Kelsey couldn't tell if the monotone voice was a good thing or a bad thing, but she knew that she needed to continue. "I… I mean, Clayface, he can duplicate me and basically take over my life, thus replacing me… I-I know you said what, but what's can still be who's in the case of a riddle."

The room fell into silence for a few moments as everyone just stared at her, unmoving. She could have ignored all of that if it wasn't for the Riddler's face. His eyes were wide, his expression was tight with his lips pressed together. He just continued to stare at her, his eyes growing wild, angry…

She glanced to Gretchen. Had she gotten it wrong? Was he angry with her stupidity? Usually he would just laugh at someone when they answered wrong.

"Cheated…"

Everyone looked to the man.

"Wh-What?"

"You… cheated," he said, his voice strained with anger as he seemed to be holding himself back. "You must have…"

Kelsey's eyes widened. She had gotten it right? She had completely guessed on that! Well, no, it was more or less of logical shot in the dark, but she only thought of Clayface because she had seen him be turned in last night.

But when she didn't respond, nothing was holding back the patient's rage as he snarled out, "How did you know?! You must have cheated! Only the Batman has solved that one before! You must have got the answer from him!"

She nearly fell out of her seat from his sudden shout, but just as he started to break out into his rage, the guards roughly escorted him out, shouting at him to be quiet. But he didn't stop, shouting back how she was a cheater, how she had cheated, that she was too much of an idiot to get the answer on her own.

With her heart racing, she slowly tried to calm herself down as she looked to Gretchen, who was just staring at her with wide eyes. She seemed just as surprised as she did about her answer. But she never would have thought that her answer would have been correct! It had been a guess!

"How?"

She blinked.

"How did you know?"

"I… didn't," Kelsey admitted, letting go of her notes to place them down on her lap. "I had… guessed."

"You guessed?!"

Kelsey flinched at hiss. "Y-Yes… I… I did." What else was she supposed to have done?! She wasn't some genius and she wasn't Batman. Of course she had guessed!

God, she really hoped this day didn't have any more mishaps like that.

* * *

><p>By lunchtime, rumor had gotten around about how Kelsey had solved the Riddler's riddle. She had wished the guards didn't talk so much about things like that, but then again, it wasn't as if they had much to do aside of talking to each other while on duty.<p>

Luckily, she hadn't been surrounded by anyone or wasn't asked any questions since Sarah had asked her to join her in her office for some lunch. She had also wanted to talk about what to for Croc at three and go over some more notes and material on the man. Cash was there too, the head guard in charge of Croc.

Kelsey couldn't help but to admire Cash a bit. Even though Croc had bit off his hand, the man still worked with him. Even though he was afraid of him and had hated him greatly, Cash had returned to work even after he lost his hand to the inmate. Still, the man did view Croc as a freak of nature and wasn't shy of making it known. Not that she agreed with that view point, but still – to be attacked and continue to work with an inmate who threatened to finish him off on a regular basis? Cash was definitely someone to admire.

Like Gretchen, he didn't seem too keen on the idea of having an intern interview the patient. Unlike Gretchen, he was less professional about his protests.

"Cassidy, I can't believe your making her do you job. She's just an intern!"

"Cash, please," Kelsey said, trying to make light of the situation. "I'm the one who accepted the offer, I could have turned her down–"

"And that's what I don't get. Why the hell would you want to willing work with that monster? He'll kill you the first chance he gets!"

"Cash," Sarah said sternly, shooting a glare in his direction. "Jones is a person–"

"That'll eat her whole," he finished, crossing his arms. That freak a person? No. Never a person. He was an animal and everyone knew it. Did she see what they fed the creature?! It was like stocking up meat for a zoo animal! And that was exactly what Croc was. An animal and one that needed to be out down too.

"You're going to get this poor girl killed and it's going to be because you were too damn scared to interview the thing yourself."

Sarah bit her bottom lip and looked down at her hands. Yes. She was scared to do the interview. Gretchen had originally done this, but after the break out and with Warden Sharp switching around everyone's schedules, she had somehow been assigned to be the patient's doctor. Unlike Gretchen though, she couldn't approach him with an irony face. She was terrified… Ever since what had happened with Zsasz, she just couldn't be as brave as she used to be in front of some of the patients. And Croc knew it too, using that fear against her in every interview.

Kelsey bit her bottom lip, seeing that Sarah had been hurt by the head guard's words. She turned to him and gave him a stern look.

He raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Cash… Apologize to her. I could have said no to her offer, but I didn't. And I'll be fine; this won't get me killed."

Cash huffed, shaking his head. All right, maybe he had been a little too hard on Sarah, but Kelsey would not be fine. No one was ever fine when they got involved with Croc. Just look at him. He was missing a hand because of that freak.

"Sorry, Cassidy, but she is just an intern."

"It's all right," she said, shaking her head. "And I know she is – I'll still be in the cell with her during the interview… I just won't be conducting it."

Cash wondered why she just didn't do the interview herself then, but decided to just keep his mouth shut as he watched the young doctor pull out a large file on the patient. Kelsey's eyes widened. She didn't expect it to be that full… But then again, she had seen bigger files. The Joker basically had his own cabinet.

"Here," she said as she pushed the file toward the intern, who opened it up. "This file is specifically on his… victims throughout the years."

Kelsey felt her stomach turn a bit at the sight. It contained nothing but detailed documents and accounts on the victims' bodies. To make it worse, there were gruesome and gory pictures to go along most of the reports. Organs and severed limbs, bodily bodies and horrified dead faces… She had really wished she hadn't eaten lunch before this because it was making her nauseous.

Disgusted, she quickly closed the file as a shudder went through her body. Even though it was grotesque, she couldn't be surprised. The man was a vicious cannibal and he wasn't shy of letting anyone know.

"Maybe I should have eaten after you showed me those."

Cash let out a humorless laugh and held up his hooked hand. "At least they found those limbs… My hand's was digested a long time ago."

Kelsey made a face, but said nothing.

Sarah sighed. "Yes… I figured you would want to understand the severity of his crimes. He's not ashamed of them at all, as I'm sure you are aware."

She nodded.

"And because of that…" She opened one of her desk drawer and pulled out a small gray remote, handing it to Kelsey. "You'll need this."

"What is it?" she asked, inspecting it as she turned it over in her hand.

"It's the controller to his collar."

"Oh…" Right. Sarah said she would be giving her this for her own protection. Suddenly, a wave of nervousness came over her. She could only pray that Croc would not decide to make her his next victim and leave a pile of her limbs and organs behind.

"Have you read the file of Croc yet?"

She nodded. "I read it after the interview with Nigma."

Kelsey hadn't been shocked when she read the file. Most of the Category Nine patients didn't have good lives. Croc especially didn't have one. He only looked the way he did due to a rare mutation and he was frequently bullied as a child at school while his abusive alcoholic aunt beat him at home after his parents abandoned him. Then he went to work at a freak show and that was how he got his name in the first place… And where he had grown to hate humanity more and more as time went on the more people treated him like a monster.

She wasn't like Cash. She didn't think of him as a monster. Yes, he had done monstrous or horrible things, but he was not a monster. He was angry, he was scarred… And how could he not be after the way he was treated all throughout his life? His actions were wrong and immoral, but in a way, understandable. He was still a human being, regardless of what others thought and what he thought of himself.

Kelsey started to go through some of the notes on various interviews and police reports. All brutal reports, as she predicted. And the notes from the interviews all portrayed him as detached from humanity and violently aggressive. While the collar seemed to subdue him, it didn't control him. If anything, it made him even more hostile.

She would have thought about possibly removing the collar, but with his low mental state, that would have been suicide. He didn't want to talk. He wanted to kill and since he probably would consider her a doctor, he would want to kill her first.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Sarah handed her a clipboard. She blinked as she took it from the woman, seeing that it was a chart with some notes scribble on it. She titled her head as she studied over it.

"What's this?" she asked, a bit confused.

She gave a defeated sigh and shook his head. "His progress chart."

"Oh…" She studied over the chart. It seemed that he had gotten worse since being a patient here, even further away from being cured then he had been before. "It doesn't look like much progress has been made."

"It's not like we can make progress with that thing anyway."

Kelsey looked back at Cash when he said that, seeing the sour look on his face. But when he didn't say anything else, she turned back to Sarah, surprised to see her eyes narrowed at the man. But then she relaxed and looked back to Kelsey.

"Well, are you ready to talk to him?

She slowly nodded. "At least as ready as I'll be right now…"

That seemed to be enough for Sarah, who stood up. Kelsey moved to stand too, but the doctor held up her hand to keep her seated. Kelsey blinked but didn't question it, watching as Sarah moved to exit the office.

"I'll be back in a bit," she said to Cash, who moved out of the way of the door. "Can you keep an eye on her?"

"You can count on me, Doc."

Sarah smiled before nodding to Kelsey and exiting the room. Kelsey just sat there, a bit confused as she glanced up at the clock. The interview wouldn't be for another two hours… Was she just supposed to study the notes some more and make her own analysis? That certainly didn't seem like a bad idea…

But Cash had other plans in mind, it seemed, as he made himself a seat next to her. She blinked, but scooted over and turned to him, seeing that the man clearly had something to say.

"Yes, Cash?"

"You're going to be listening to me for good long while," he said. "I know more about Croc than anyone else in this asylum. I may not be like you with a coat, but I know his patterns of behavior well enough to when that thing is going to pounce or attempt something."

Kelsey fixed her glasses and sighed. "He's not a thing, Cash. He's just as human–"

He waved his hook hand in front of her. "Does a human eat another man's hand and then threatens to finish eating the rest of him?"

"He has psychological issues, Cash–"

But Cash didn't seem to want to hear it. While it irritated her slightly, Kelsey pushed it aside for now. She understood why Cash would think that way, even though he was wrong about his way of thinking.

"Fine then… What do I need to know?"

The older man leaned back in his chair and was quiet for a moment, gathering his thoughts. Hell, there was a lot she needed to know but he only had so much time to actually tell her.

Then, he spoke. "First thing you should definitely know: don't force him to come to an interview if he really doesn't want to. He has no trouble trying to put guards in the hospital, as you can tell." He moved his hooked hand in front of her.

Kelsey nodded, deciding to write this down. Cash probably had a lot of say and she had a feeling that it would help her in the future with not just Croc, but other inmates too possibly. She could never be too careful.

* * *

><p>It was finally time for the interview. Cash and a few other guards escorted Kelsey and Sarah down to Croc's holding cell. She had really wished that Sharp hadn't made it mandatory for the doctors to go into his cell for interviews until he said otherwise. That just seemed far too dangerous…<p>

It didn't help that she was suddenly feeling incredibly nervous about this. While excited that she would be conducting the interview herself and with a Category Nine patient no less, it was still a Category Nine patient. He was violent, deadly. And he would no doubt turn her into a target as well for being a new face.

She glanced down at her clipboard and notes. She would be all right… Sarah would be in there with her, as well as Cash and another guard while the other two waited outside. Besides, she had taken some extensive notes, so she should be all right so long as she didn't say anything stupid… Cash had mentioned that irritating Croc was not an option as it would only provoke him to violence.

"Lunar."

She stopped walking, looking up to see that they were already at his cell. Wow… She never realized just how completely isolated the patient was. The closest cell to him was at least a few floors up. There was a guard station across from the door and she could see guards stationed on the floor above arms with tranquilizers.

If she didn't know any better, she would have thought that some sort of animal was in the cell, not one of the residents here.

Taking a deep breath, she nodded to Cash as he opened the door slowly, the other guards keeping their guns out and pointed.

"Hey, freak!" Cash shouted out. "Time for your interview."

"Cash, don't antagonize him," Sarah hissed, eyes narrowing at him. God, it was because of him that Croc was always in a foul mood during the interviews. She didn't want to make this too hard for Kelsey.

The intern swallowed as a shiver came through her. She could hear his harsh, heavy breathing echoing off the walls. It sounded… demonic. Unearthly. It was a little frightening, but she kept on a straight face as she slowly entered the room.

"W-Wait, Kelsey-!"

But she ignored Sarah as she stepped into the cell, holding the clipboard to her chest tighter than before. Taking a deep breath, she found her voice to call out to the man.

"Jones?" Oh crap, her voice was a little more high-pitched than she had wanted it to be. But there wasn't an answer from the man, just more heavy breathing.

Sarah and Cash entered the room with another guard as the door closed behind them. Cash moved in front of Kelsey, stepping forward with his gun out in front of him. His eyes narrowed when he saw the monster sitting in the far corner of his cell, back turned to them as he continued to breath and snarl like a demon.

"Get up, Croc – your doctor's here for your interview."

"Cash, please…" Kelsey slowly rested a hand on his shoulder to step around him to get a better look at her… giant patient. Even sitting down, he looked huge. And the collar around his neck became more prominent now that she was closer, the remote tucked safely in her lab coat pocket.

She swallowed, putting on a brave front as she stood up straight. "Hello, Jones. I am Kelsey Lunar. I'll be conducting your interview today in place of Doctor Cassidy."

His head turned, making her stiffen when their eyes locked. Dear God… it felt like he was staring into her soul or something. Those bright toxic yellow eyes, glowing with this animalistic rage. She swallowed as a shiver went down her spine, taking a single step back when she saw him rise to his feet and slowly turn to face her.

She could see why people were terrified of him, even if they had never read his file. He was a frightening sight to behold, standing eleven feet tall and towering over everyone in the room. His stance was threatening and it was easy to see that he was not welcoming towards her or the people behind her.

Before he could take a step forward, Cash and the other guard pointed up their guns at him. "Sit down!" Cash ordered.

A dark, raspy laugh left the man's throat. "You think you can hurt me, Cash? I already took one hand… I can always take the other."

"Sit. Down."

Croc looked between the guards and the woman standing beside them. He glanced over to see Sarah in the corner, cowering away as he knew she would be. He let out a single laugh before complying, slowly going back down on the ground with his legs crossed.

"There… Happy, now?"

Cash opened his mouth to say something, but Kelsey quickly beat him to it. "Yes, thank you." She really did not want this to turn into a bloodbath. Everyone needed to be calm for this. Anything could set the patient off and that was the last thing they needed.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped closer to him. "So… Mister Jones–"

"That's not my name, bitch."

She should have figured that the insults would come quickly. From various notes and readings of the man's files, she could clearly see that Croc not only hated humanity for how they treated him, but that he also saw himself as a beast. He didn't categorize himself as human, but some sort of monster. Attempts at referring to his "human name" only seemed to anger him as he had implemented the monster identity so deeply into his subconscious that he refused to be acknowledge anyone who went by that name.

"… Very well," she said, nodding to herself. "What… would you like me to call you?"

"I thought you doctors were supposed to be smart at this shit. You should already know what to call me."

"I'm an intern."

That seemed to surprise him a bit, making him narrow his eyes at her. Her heart started to race as those brilliant yellow eyes stared her down, studying over intently. She could hear him sniff at the air, no doubt taking in her scent. It was a bit fascinating, so she quickly moved out her clipboard and jotted down notes.

While she wrote, Croc couldn't help but to be a bit surprised. An intern? Some lowly new brat was talking to him now? It was… amusing. His current doctor was so terrified of him that she actually sacrificed an intern in her place. In fact, from the corner of his eye, he could see Sarah hiding in the back, never looking at him once. Scared bitch… And soon to be his meal. As they all would be one day.

He looked back to the intern, who was still scribbling something down. "What's so interesting, Doc? Notice something about me?"

She paused in her notes and looked up at him. When he just stared back at her coldly, she knew it was best to answer. "Just writing about how you observe newcomers."

He laughed. "A monster always gets the scent of someone new who enters his domain."

"You're not a monster though."

"Have you taken a good fucking look at me, Doc?"

"… Yes, I have." She stepped a bit closer to him, studying him more. Indeed, his appearance was of the grotesque nature, but that wasn't his fault. It was genetic mutation he had been born with. He had no control over that. "And I can conclude you're not a monster."

She was lying. Of course she thought he was a monster. Everyone believed that he was one. Cash, the doctors, the other inmates, everyone he had ever encountered all the same: he was an animal. So he didn't disappoint and became the monsters they all feared. And he knew she feared him too. She was just like the rest of them.

"Oh… You think so, Doc?"

"Yes, I–"

His cuffed hands suddenly shot out at her and took a violent hold of her shirt and coat, yanking her forward until her face was only inches from his. The action had been so quick that she had been unable to scream, just let out a frightened gasp as her eyes went wide with terror, dropping her clipboard and papers to the ground.

"Kelsey!" Sarah shouted out in horror as the guards pointed their guns at him.

"Let her go!" Cash shouted. "You damn monster – let go!"

But Croc didn't. He made no moves to hurt or kill, just staring her down with that dangerous look in his eyes. The woman didn't shake in his grip, which surprised him, but he could see the fear in those bright hazel eyes of hers. He breathed hard, fogging up her glasses a bit and disorienting her.

"Still think I'm not a monster?" he snarled, his voice low and dark.

Kelsey was doing everything in her power to not start panicking. That was what he wanted. This was a game for him, this was him trying to overpower her, take control over her. He was trying to get her to see him like how everyone else saw him, how he saw himself. A monster. But she couldn't let that happen, no matter how terrified she was of what he could do to her in this position.

Her hand slipped into her coat pocket, clutching around the remote tightly. She swallowed and found her voice. "Let… go."

"I don't see why I should."

"I have the remote to your collar… I don't wish to use it on you and treat you like an animal."

"Why not?" he said, challenging her attempt to be rational and calm about the manner. He moved his face closer to hers, their noses almost touching. His breath was foul, reeking of blood and sewer water. "Come on, Doc… Why not give it a try? Be like the others… We both know you want to."

Her eyes narrowed, hoping that she wasn't about to get herself killed. "No. I don't."

Croc just stared at her in silence for a few moments. This bitch had guts. She was like that Whistler woman… but different. That woman was strict and stern with a pole up her ass. This woman… Kelsey Lunar, no, no she was different. She was trying to prove something to him. She was determined.

Stupid, but admirable at the same time. He laughed and gave her a hard shove back, causing her to fall back on the ground with a loud "uhmp!" Cash immediately helped her up while the other guard kept his gun pointed at him, the older man asking her if she was all right. She just held his hand up to him as he steadied her to feet.

"Funny, Doc… All right, you want to play games with me? I'll play your fucking games."

"I don't want to play any games, Jones–"

"Don't call me that," he snarled, the amusement in his voice gone again. "Croc… That's my name. Nothing else but that."

"… Very well." She steadied herself while Cash handed her back her clipboard and papers. At least none of them had gotten dirty or fallen out of place. "Thank you, Cash."

He nodded to her before glaring at Croc. "You make another move like that, I'll make sure you get locked up in isolation for a month."

"Yeah, because being in here–" he gestured to his small cell "– isn't isolated enough."

"Please, Croc, Cash, enough," Kelsey begged, moving herself in between the two of them. The action surprised Croc. Normally, the doctors wouldn't say anything and they would never position themselves between the guards and the patients, especially not him. Everyone knew what he did to humans like her. She was just food… She shouldn't have been protecting him.

She turned to face him, the fear she had before having left her face by now. "Croc. Please, I wish to talk to you, to get to know you better. I am more than willing to share anything you wish to know about me as well."

"You seem pretty convinced I care at all about you."

"I know you don't; I'm just telling you that I'm not going to hide anything from you."

He blinked. This was… strange. She was treating him… almost like an equal. Not a patient, not an animal… but as another human being. It was different and he wasn't used to it. He didn't like it. This wasn't how things were supposed to be. This was not how she was supposed to act around him.

This wasn't right.

Kelsey was surprised to find that Croc was willing to cooperate a little bit during the interview. He answered some of the questions, not all, usually going silence or insulting her one way or another. She ignored it for the most part and didn't berate him for it. She just took it and nodded, knowing that this was normal for him.

She could definitely understand why Sarah was afraid of this man. He wasn't easy to handle… but she didn't think she would mind doing this again. So long as Croc didn't attempt to grab her again or try to hurt her. Then maybe she would have to reconsider about doing these interviews.

"Croc," she said, coming to a question that she had wanted to ask from the beginning. "Why do you eat people?"

He knew this question was coming. Every single doctor always got to try and get an answer out of him for this. And they never liked the answer he gave. It always gave him a damn good laugh.

He smirked. "What else is there to eat?"

"There are plenty of meats available to eat."

She said it so nonchalantly. As if he could just go to the store and grab a slap of meat. Did she not get that he wasn't normal? That he would never be welcomed anywhere and everyone viewed him as some sort of monster. Besides, with his size and appetite, a small steak was never enough for him.

"It's not like there's a burger big enough to satisfy my hunger," he chuckled, shaking his head. "Besides, humans have always mock me for what I am… I'm returning the favor." His eyes flashed over to Cash, who just glared back at the man he considered a monster.

She let out a small sigh; he was excluding himself from humans, as if he were of another species. "Croc, you're a human too. Everyone in this room is human–"

"I'm not a worthless human like you."

She could sense the anger radiating off of him, but she expected him to react that way. He was convinced he was different, that he was not included in the _homo sapiens_ species. After being excluded from it all his life though, there was nothing surprising about this self-separation.

"You're a human, Croc, no matter your outward appearance or what people may say about you."

"Not even your trusted guard Cash?"

"Regardless of his opinion, you are still human." She meant no harm to Cash and his personal beliefs, but she had to make her point. Croc was a human, skin mutation or not.

He gave a humorless laugh. Maybe she was actually just a moron. She didn't know anything. She didn't have to suffer what he suffered. She wasn't mocked or ridiculed for her appearance for all of her life. She wouldn't know what it was like to be ugly, to look like he did. She was a pretty little woman with a pretty little face. She had nothing to worry about.

Croc shook his head and huffed. "Even if you say that… I'm not normal. I'm a freak… A _monster_."

She wasn't sure if he was saying that with grief or with irritation, but she couldn't help but to feel pity for the man. He didn't want to be this way. He hated his appearance… But he embraced it. He had no choice but to since there was no cure for his appearance. There would probably never be one either.

Kelsey let out a soft sigh and held out her hand. "Croc, give me your hand."

He eyed her for a few moments before slowly moving out his hand to her. He found himself curious, wondering what she was thinking and what she wanted to do. Glancing up at Cash and the other guard, he could see that they were even more alert than before, ready to shoot him if he gave them the chance.

No one was expecting for Kelsey to place her dainty little onto his giant claw. He almost yanked his hand back as no one had ever touched him willingly before… Not in such a gentle manner anyway. Whenever anyone had put their hands on him, it was always violent. As a kid, as a teenage, and even as an adult – he had never received a gentle touch from anyone ever.

At least not until now.

"See this?" she asked, looking back up at him with a soft expression. "Yes… Our hands are different, but no human has the same hand as someone's else."

He said nothing, just staring at her hand on top of his.

"You and I aren't the only ones… Cash and I have different hands and so do I and Doctor Cassidy. Even someone like Bane has a _very_ different hand from me, but we're both still human."

She looked back up at him, seeing that his expression had no changed much. But she could see from the almost mystified look in his eyes that he was listening, that he was actually thinking about her words. Or at least pretending to think about them.

"It's the same with you," she continued, looking back to her hands. "No matter what your hand looks like, you're still a person. You and I are humans. Do you understand now?"

She was still greeted with silence. Had she made him upset? Did she actually say something that meant something to him? With Category Nine patients, one could never be sure.

"Kelsey."

She looked behind her, seeing Sarah had moved over with a look of shock and fear on her face.

"C-Come on… It's time to go."

"Oh… Very well." She took her hand away from Croc and stepped away from him, jotting down a few notes about the encounter. This seemed like progress… Just in case it actually meant anything for future session, she scribble something on his progress chart.

"Well, that's it for the interview today, Croc. Thank you for cooperating with me today."

She was starting to get worried about how silent he was being, but no one else seemed to be pay any mind to it. She bit her bottom lip as she was ushered away, heading toward the door as Cash stood in between her and the patient.

Just as the door opened, he said, "Are you gonna interview me again?"

She looked back at him, surprised. He hadn't moved from his spot, but he was looking up at her with his eyes narrowed. She glanced at Sarah for an answer, who just nodded at her. She probably only mean that she should say yes just to appease him.

She turned back to Croc. "Only if you request me. But since I'm just an intern, I don't know if I will be able to again… Have a good day, Croc.

He looked up her, startled about the gesture of good will, but she had already left, the door slamming behind her and Cash. He just sat there, a bit stumped. This Lunar… Kelsey Lunar. Damn, she was one interesting bitch.

His eyes fell to his hand. Her sweet, aromatic scent lingered. Something pulled him to bring his hand to his face, inhaling more of that… delicious scent. Shit, he couldn't recall the last time he had smelled a scent so sweet, so delectable… He couldn't help but to laugh at that, licking his hand as if to get a taste of what was no longer there.

"I've got your scent, Kelsey…" he murmured softly to himself, closing his eyes. "Be thankful I don't have an urge to kill you yet."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So this chapter is a lot longer than I had expected it to be... Hope you still enjoyed it, regardless though. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: [Spoilers? I guess…] Some due to all the changes - both minor and major - I will be making, I'll be leaving the story rating as T... It am be subject to change and if I think it will, I'll switch it to M.**

**Oh, and if I do write anything graphic and such in the future, you will not be getting the explicit content on here due to FanFiction's rules. However, if you do read the more graphic content if it happens, you can find the story on Ao3 under the same name. :)**

**Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy. ^^**

* * *

><p>It was early Saturday evening. Kelsey was in her apartment, getting ready for the party tonight. Bruce was going to be there in about an hour, so she had to get her things packed and ready to go.<p>

It had been two days since she had interviewed Croc. Truth be told, she had hoped she would get to interview him again. Not because she hoped for Sarah to pay her again, although that was pretty nice in itself. But Croc himself… he was so fascinating… Though he had been frightening at first, he had responded positively to her the second half hour of the interview.

She had been able to take some good notes on him and had been able to present her own analysis to Gretchen. While she was impressed with the notes, she had told her to reject any more interviews with the patient. Apparently Cash had informed her of Croc's attempt to frighten her by grabbing her roughly and bringing her to his face.

Oh well. Even if she was against it, if the offer came, Kelsey would take it. Besides, this would be good experience for when she applied for a permanent position at the asylum. Though it came with much disk, it was definitely her dream job and she would do whatever she could to try to bolster her resume.

She glanced at the bag she had on the bed. She had some pajamas and a change of clothes, but she had never had the time to ask or text Bruce about what she should wear to this dinner party. Was it formal? Did it not matter? She didn't want to dress like some sort of slob and embarrass him in front of people. She would probably do that enough with her clumsy self if she were to trip and fall flat on her face.

She decided to not focus on it for now and just fix her hair for now. Even though she didn't know if it was formal or not, she could still make her hair nice. And she was wearing a nice blue blouse and a jean of dark blue form-fitting jeans, so she didn't look like a complete slob.

She heard her house phone ring, cursing to herself. She put down her brush and quickly rushed over to the kitchen, picking it up and bringing it to her ear. "Hello?"

"_I'm right outside."_

Crap! She still wasn't ready yet… but she didn't want to keep him waiting, especially not if he was hosting a party tonight. Oh well, she could always fix herself up at the manor. Maybe he would even have some clothes for her. Knowing how Bruce could act sometimes, she wouldn't be surprised.

"All right, give me a minute. I'll be right down, okay?"

"_All right."_

She hung up on him and quickly moved back to the bathroom to grab her hairbrush, flatiron, and her personal hygiene supplies. Shutting off the light, she threw her materials into her bag (almost slipping on the carpet as she ran from the bathroom to her room) and zipped it up. After making sure that the windows were locked and the lights were all shut off, she grabbed her bag and a jacket, walking out of the apartment and closing and locking the door behind her.

Not wanting to slip again, she carefully made her way down the stairs and out of the building. She was fortunate enough to not fall while walking outside, which was good. Once she left her building, she could see Bruce's slick black car out front as he was leaned against it. The last thing she wanted to do was fall and embarrass herself in front of him. Again.

"Bruce," she called out, catching his attention.

The well-dressed man looked up and smiled at the young woman. "It's nice to see you again, Kelsey. It's been a long time."

She giggled, nodding. She couldn't actually recall the last time the two of them had spent any time together. When he wasn't busy during the day, he was doing his detective work at night. Oh well, that was much more important than getting together, especially nowadays since they were both busy with work and their own lives.

She placed her stuff in the back while Bruce opened the door for her to the passenger's seat. She giggled and gave him a small thank you before he shut the door and rounded the car to climb into the driver's side.

Just as he got in, she leaned back against the seat and buckled herself in. "You know," she said when he turned the engine on. "You didn't tell me if this dinner party was going to be a formal thing or not, so I didn't know how to dress."

He gave a soft laugh as he buckled himself in, pulling away from the curb. "It's fine, I figured you wouldn't know what to wear, so I had something prepared for you."

She rolled her eyes but let out a soft laugh. Just as she had predicted… He had to keep up that playboy persona of his somehow, though. It certainly worked though and no one seemed to speculate or know of Bruce's identity. At least as far as she knew anyway.

"So how's work been for you this past week?"

The question snapped her out of her thoughts and caught her off guard. She looked at him, but he seemed to be more focused on the road as he wore an unreadable expression. They both knew that he didn't like her internship… Was he just trying to make conversation?

Oh well. It couldn't hurt to go along with it.

She let out a small sigh and shrugged. "It's been going well. I've mainly reviewed and analyzed notes and helped Doctor Whistler in the lab with her project. She's also been wanting me to make my own assessments and analyses on some of the patients she interviews."

"You join her during sessions?"

"Yes; it's required for all interns."

"I see."

It suddenly grew quiet, making Kelsey feel a bit awkward as she squirmed a bit in her chair. Why did he ask if he was just going to get angry? Still, she couldn't sit in silence for much longer. It was far too uncomfortable for her liking.

She cleared her throat. "Y-Yeah… And, thanks to Sarah, I was actually able to conduct my first interview on Thursday. It was… certainly intense, but it went well, I think."

That seemed to catch his attention, though by the tone in his voice that he didn't sound pleased about it or as excited as she had been. "By yourself? With who?"

"Oh, no, no, not by myself, I'm not allowed. Sarah was with me."

"And who did you interview?"

The tone unnerved her. She had thought about lying, but she knew better. Bruce would be able to see right through it and it would only make him more irritated with her if she tried to dance around the subject.

"… Waylon Jones," she murmured quietly, fiddling with her thumbs as she looked down at them, bracing herself for his reaction.

"You interviewed Croc?" he demanded, turning sharply towards her as she jumped out of her seat. "How? Only veteran psychiatrists are allowed to become his doctors and you're-"

"Bruce!" she cried, seeing that he was no longer paying attention to the traffic in front of him. "K-Keep your eyes on the road!

Though still in a mind-set of shock and anger, his reflexes quickly kicked in as he turned his head back to what was in front of him. He forced himself to calm down, breathing in deeply as he attempted to enter a mediated mindset. Losing his temper now would only be fatal to both of them; he could lose his concentration and they would end up getting into an accident, something he couldn't afford to get into now.

It took a minute or two of silence before he let out a long, deep breath, releasing his fingers from the steering wheel before taking a hold of it again.

"Do not take any more interviews with him," he said calmly, his voice firm as if he were talking to a child.

She frowned a bit. She understood that he was upset, but this was his job. Besides, it wasn't as if his job was any less dangerous than hers. If anything, his was more. "Bruce, you're not my father and even if you were, my internship is none of your business."

"You're going to make it my business when Croc kills you."

"Since you're so against me working there, are you the same with the other guards and doctors there as well? Because you don't tell them not to work there."

He gripped the steering wheel again before releasing it. No… He didn't tell them not to work there. And he didn't have a right to tell Kelsey not to work there either. He didn't like it – in fact, he loathed it – but where she worked was not his decision. He couldn't help but to fear for her safety though.

"Kelsey…"

She glanced at him.

"… Just be careful. And never do interviews alone. Please."

"I… I can't promise you the last one," she admitted softly, keeping her head down. If she eventually got a full-time position there, she would have to do the interviews alone. "B-But… I will be careful. I promise."

That didn't exactly soothe Bruce's worries, but he gave her a nod regardless. There was no point arguing with the woman. She was determined when it came to her work and she would not let anyone get in the way of doing what she loved, eve if it was dangerous and potentially fatal.

He could only take a deep breath and hope that she would never have contact with Croc again.

* * *

><p>It had been a long time since she had been to Wayne Manor and good Lord, it was a rather magnificent home. Very grand and polished, fit for someone of Bruce's status.<p>

Not to mention it probably helped hide the fact that there was the Batcave underneath the house. She had actually never seen it, but she could imagine what it possibly looked like. She was curious, but it wasn't really any of her business. Not to mention that she did not want anyone believing that she was involved in any way with Batman.

That would definitely be putting a target on her back for the inmates and that was the last thing she needed.

When they arrived at the door, Alfred had greeted them both before having to discuss something with Bruce in private. Not wanting to easy drop, Kelsey wandered into the mail hall, surprised to see Barbara there. A smile came to her face as she rushed over to the younger woman, leaning down to wrap her arms around her.

"It's good to see you, Barbara," she said, giving her a small squeeze before stepping away from her. "It's been a while."

She nodded. "A year right?"

"Give or take."

They both let out soft laughs. Kelsey had always liked the woman. Barbara was very intelligent and stern when she needed to be, but she was also very sweet. Conversation with was never boring and unlike some of her other friends, Barbara didn't blow her off if she ever went on a tangent about criminal psychology. It was most likely because she was slightly interested in the subject herself as well, considering she helped Batman, but still – at least she was nice about it all.

"How have you been?"

Barbara gave a small shrug and sighed. "Busy, but I've been fine for the most part."

But before Kelsey could respond, the other woman gave her a look, one that made Kelsey feel incredibly small. Oh no… Bruce must have told her–

"So I heard about your internship."

Kelsey slowly nodded, pursing her lips.

"Well, you haven't gotten yourself killed, so I suppose your doing fine."

"She hasn't yet, but that doesn't mean she won't."

Kelsey grimaced when she heard Bruce's voice, making both the women look behind her to see him come into the room with Alfred behind him. Despite the stab at her job, she was able tp brush it off when she saw Alfred.

"Hello, Alfred."

"Good evening, Miss Kelsey," he said, stepping towards her. "A room for you has been prepared upstairs. I've already put away your luggage and necessities away."

Her eyes widened. She had forgotten that she had given Bruce her luggage… Alfred must have taken it to her room and then… "O-Oh, no, Alfred, y-you didn't have to do that…"

He shook his head. "It was no trouble, Miss Kelsey. Master Wayne has also prepared a dress for you for the dinner party."

Oh right. Dinner party. She had completely forgotten about that. At least she would have more time

She just bit her bottom lip and nodded, rubbing the back of her neck. It definitely had been way too long since she had last been here… She had completely forgot what Alfred was like, especially when it came to guests.

"I-I guess I'll go get ready then."

"I'll show you to your room then," Bruce said, gesturing for her to follow him.

She nodded and gave a small wave goodbye to the other two in the room, quickly running after Bruce to follow him down the hallway. He lead the woman up to the staircase, slowly walking up it and making sure that she didn't fall behind.

"How formal is this party?" she asked as they made their way up.

"Not hugely, but formal enough that you may want to wear a dress."

"What's it for?"

"Just a simple gathering."

She frowned a bit. She really wished he would just say what he was the hosting this thing for. But it didn't seem like he was going to be specific and it wasn't as if it was really any of her business. She had just been invited to join.

Just as they reached the top of the staircase, Kelsey tripped over the last step and let out a small gasp when she found herself falling forward. Luckily for her, Bruce had heard the noise and turned around, reaching over to catch her before she hit the floor.

"Thanks," she mumbled, cheeks red as she held onto his shirt. Great. Even though she had told herself to not act the fool, she ended up tripping over her own two feet. Again.

Bruce just chuckled as he helped her to her feet. But her tripping only reinforced his point about her safety at Arkham. She wasn't safe there. There were too many people there that could hurt her, would hurt her. And if they saw how clumsy she was, she could become an easy target. Hell, even as just an intern, she was one.

But Bruce decided not to focus on that for now. She wasn't as the asylum and she was far from the any of the inmates. And as long as she was here, she would be safe. Tonight was just a simple party and they weren't meant to enjoy themselves. Nothing more.

He walked her down to the end of the hallway, stepping in front of a door. "Hope the room is to your liking," he said as he opened the door.

She gave a small smile as she stepped inside. Every room in this house was "to her liking." Especially compared to her small apartment. This place was a palace. And sure enough, the room was spacious and decorative with its own bathroom for her to use whenever she needed it.

"Thank you, it's wonderful."

He nodded. "The party is in about an hour. Will that be enough time?"

"Oh, plenty! Especially now since I don't have to worry about what I should wear."

Bruce chuckled. "Very well, I'll come by again in an hour."

She nodded as he closed the door behind him. Once the door shut, she moved over to the bed to see a dark blue dress laid out on the bed for her. It was a simply dress, nothing too fancy but still elegant and fitting for a dinner party. She had a feeling that Bruce had picked it out; he had incredibly good taste. Then again, she didn't expect any different from a man who grew up in a home like this.

Then she quickly stripped out of her clothes and shoes, walking over to the dresser in the room to put away her blouse and pants. She moved back over to the bed and slipped on the blue dress, noting how soft and comfortable the fabric was against her skin. Once she had zipped the gown up, she headed into the rather luxurious bathroom – at least compared to her bathroom back at the apartment – to start fixing her hair and make-up.

It didn't take long, considering she had done all that back home. Still, her hair was rather thick and liked to get wavy, so she decided that using the flatiron a bit more couldn't hurt. Besides, she had been given such a nice dress, she might as well make herself look nice too.

* * *

><p>The dinner party was a little overwhelming for the intern. The main hall was filled with businessmen and politicians. She felt completely out of place, but Bruce stayed by her side the entire time, so it wasn't too bad. She just had to smile and act like she knew what was going on… Or at least just be a pretty ornament attached to Bruce's arm.<p>

While she didn't just want to be a decoration or anything like that, she certainly didn't mind it in this case. She didn't want to say something stupid and hurt her friend's image.

From what she could see, some policemen were there too. There could have been more, but she didn't see Since Barbara was there, Kelsey could deduce that Commissioner Gordon would be there too. And sure enough, as Bruce led her to the corner, he was in the back with Barbara and a few others.

"Jim, good to see you."

The commissioner looked up and smiled at the man as they moved over the group. "Wayne, I was wondering where you were." Then his eyes fell to Kelsey, a look of surprise coming over his face. "Lunar?"

She gave a small smile. They had only met a few times and they were all in the asylum. The first time was when he and some of the police officers wanted to have their own safety talk with all the interns. It was because of their talk that a majority of them dropped out of the intern program. Regardless, it had been informative and it had kept her on her toes, both in and out of the asylum.

"Hello, Commissioner."

He was still surprised as he turned back to Bruce. "How do you two know each other?"

"School."

"Oh." He looked to the woman again and gave a soft laugh. "Sure you're just friends?"

She had to laugh too. Most of Bruce's female friends weren't exactly just that. They either fell under the acquaintance category or the girlfriend category. Luckily, like Barbara, it was an actual friendship. At least that was how it was now, considering she had been in the girlfriend category several years ago.

But ancient history such as that was hardly important.

"Yes," she chuckled, shaking her head. "Just friends."

Bruce laughed too, helping confirm her point.

"Well, then, I'm guessing you know about her new job?" Gordon asked, folding his arms across his chest.

"Oh, yes, she has." Bruce looked to her with his eyes narrowed, though he was still wearing a friendly expression. Kelsey could see the slight annoyance in his eyes though. "She's setting herself up for trouble."

"Anyone who works there is."

Kelsey sighed and rolled her eyes. She figured she would be ganged up on like this because of that internship. It was probably something she would have to deal with for a while. Both Sarah and Gretchen had mentioned that jabs like that were common for a few years. After a while, people would leave you alone.

She hoped it would come sooner than later since it wasn't anyone's business but hers. The only other person who had a right to complain was her mother, but that was because the woman raised her and she was her daughter. She would always worry.

"I'll be fine," she assured them. "I can take care of myself."

"I've seen you walk around Arkham, Lunar," Gordon said, giving a soft laugh as he shook his head. "You trip over air."

"She's always been that way."

The two men started to laugh while Kelsey just blushed. She looked to Barbara for help, but when she saw that the woman was also smiling, amused by the poke at her clumsiness, she knew she was on her own for this.

Oh well. At least she didn't feel as awkward as she had before.

* * *

><p>It was around midnight when the party starting coming to an end, people leaving and thanking Bruce for the wonderful evening. Kelsey was already upstairs at by now, feeling tired. Ever since she took the internship, it was hard for her to stay up past midnight. Mainly because by the time she had gotten back to the apartment, she was dead tired.<p>

While things were still lively downstairs, Kelsey took the time to shower and change into her pajamas in her room. Since it didn't seem that she would be able to go to sleep anytime soon with all the noises and chatter down below, she was currently lounging back on the bed with her legs propped up and her laptop against her thighs.

She was glad that she had brought this with her. Reviewing the case files on some of the patients was always good practice. And while the Joker was always an interesting read, considering every doctor's report was different based on how the patient acted with them, she found herself inquiring more about Croc.

He was a difficult patient, no doubt. But still interesting at that. All patients could be cured with the right treatment and doctor. Maybe that was what Croc needed.

All his life he had been told he was a monster, a freak. His alcoholic aunt beat him mercilessly for all of his childhood after his father abandoned him for his appearance while his mother died from childbirth. His peers in and out of school weren't much different. That clearly had an effect on his mental state, which only deteriorated as he grew older and grew into what he looked like today.

She scrolled up to the notes she had taken on his first reported criminal case. He was still working in the circus when it happened, where he had allegedly raped and ate a young female attendee afterhours. The beginning of the end, Kelsey noted. She would have to ask Sarah or Gretchen about it, in case they had ever talked to the man about it before. Or… Maybe he would want to talk to her again and she would have the chance to ask himself herself.

As dangerous as it sounded, she really hoped that it would happen. Croc was such an interesting case! There was a reason behind the way he was. He could have had a normal life had he not been born the way he had been. Through so many years of abuse and rejection, his mind had been warped. There was a stronger chance for him than the others, so long as he had a doctor that was willing to work with him and try to counter his misanthropy.

There was a series of knocks on the door that made her snap out of her thoughts. "Come in," she said as she looked up.

The door opened, allowing Bruce to come into the room. She smiled, taking off her glasses and placing them on the side table. Then he pushed her laptop off of her thighs and walked over to him, who was just giving her a strange look.

She raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"You even work on the weekends," he noted, gesturing to her laptop. "Shouldn't you be getting some rest?"

"Shouldn't you be hosting a party?"

"Most of the guests have already left," he said just as the much shorter woman stepped in front of him.

"Then why are you all so loud?"

"We may have had a few more drinks than necessary."

Ah, she should have figured that. While Bruce was never one to get drunk, she knew that he would still drink a little too much and get tipsy. Luckily, he wasn't reeking of alcohol or anything of the sort, so she could tell that he certainly wasn't out of it. But he did seem a lot of relaxed than usual, so that was always good.

"Just try not to drink too much and make yourself sick," she chuckled, folding her arms across her chest. "I don't think Alfred wants to deal with you vomiting everywhere."

"I'll be fine; I've had enough to drink tonight anyway."

"Good."

Then she let out a small yawn, realizing just how tired she actually was. Maybe Bruce had a point – maybe it was time to call it night. And now that she listened more closely, she could tell that the noise level wasn't as bad as it first had been when she had gone upstairs for the evening.

"Going to turn in?"

She stretched before nodding. "You should tell the rest of your guests to go home too, so you can get some sleep."

He nodded, watching her give another soft yawn. His eyes fell to the laptop on the bed, his expression darkening. He knew that it was none of his business. He knew Kelsey would never listen to him. He knew that she was free to do what she wanted.

But still. He cared for her. She was important to him. Was it so wrong to be concerned over her safety? She could get killed there. Did she not remember how many people died during the last break out? How many had been beaten and tortured?!

Even worse, what if she ended up like Harley? Joker wasn't the only one skilled with manipulation in that asylum. He didn't want to have to end up fighting her too… End up locking her behind bars in that madhouse.

Just as she turned away, his hand reached out and caught her by the wrist. Kelsey blinked and turned back to him, titling her head in confusion.

"Bruce?"

He didn't say anything, making her turn toward him completely.

"Bruce?" she repeated, now growing concerned. Was he feeling sick? He had been just fine a few moments ago… She wondered if she should lie him down and go get Alfred. Maybe he had something to make him feel better.

But he didn't say anything. He simply leaned forward and gently pressed his lips on hers, causing her eyes to widen when they touched.

What… was he doing? This shouldn't have been happening. They weren't a couple. They hadn't been in years. They were just friends and nothing more than that He didn't see her that way and the feeling was mutual. Just friends…

But the kiss made her heart race. Her lips tingles and she felt her body heat up. It was such a gentle kiss, but her body was just reacting much more strongly to it than she ever thought it would.

He pulled away before she could make her up mind to kiss back or push him away. She panted hard, staring up at him with wide eyes and a red face. Bruce only stared at her for a few moments with expression before turning away.

"Good night, Kelsey."

She couldn't answer him, too stunned to utter a word. So when he walked out of the room and closed the door behind him, she was left standing there, speechless and in shock over what just happened. For a moment, she had thought she had just hallucinated. There was no way that that could have been real.

But it was. It had happened.

And now she would be left confused for the rest of the night.


	4. Chapter 4

Sunday had been a bit of a blur for Kelsey. She didn't remember getting much sleep, tossing and turning all night as she kept thinking about the kiss. What had it meant? Why did he do it? Was t just Bruce being drunk? Did it actually mean something? Her mind had kept her up all night with nothing with questions.

It turned out to be for nothing though since when she came out of her room for breakfast, Bruce seemed to not recall anything about kissing her. It had been a little irritated at first, but Kelsey decided to just let it go. It was probably just his buzzed mind that made him kiss her. She wished she had just accepted that when she had been thinking about it all night. She could have used the sleep.

Before she realized it, she was back in her apartment and getting ready for the next day. She swore, the weekends were just way too short. It was almost like she had never gotten the chance to fully relax!

Oh well; hopefully next weekend would provide some comfort.

Kelsey was glad that she checked her email though before she went to bed. Apparently, she wouldn't be meeting Gretchen in her office and that she would now be under Sarah's guidance for the remainder of her internship. She didn't say why and it was too late to email her and get a response before she went to sleep.

She guessed that would just have to find out in the morning.

* * *

><p>Monday morning had started out completely normal. She got up, took a shower, got dressed, and had some breakfast. Sarah came to get her and confirmed that she was now under her supervision until the internship was over or unless she said otherwise.<p>

However, Kelsey had not been prepared for what came when they got to Arkham.

The second she and Sarah had entered the building, Cash was already there to escort them both to Sharp's office. Apparently, the man wanted to speak with her. Immediately. No questions asked.

She had been a bit concerned, a nervous feeling pooling in her stomach. Was she in trouble? Had she done something wrong? Sharp never wasted his time with anyone unless he deemed it necessary. What could he want with a lowly intern like her? She had looked to Sarah for answers, but she didn't seem to know anything regarding the matter. Neither did Cash, sadly, so she was left in the dark regarding the entire matter.

They reached his office, Cash knocking on the door twice. "Sharp? I got Lunar and Cassidy here."

"Come in!"

Kelsey winced. He definitely didn't sound pleased… Then again, he never sounded happy about anything, unless he was boasting his achievements. Still, she wondered what she had done to make him angry. She quickly reviewed in her mind everything that had happened last week. Was he mad about her interviewing Croc? Could that have been it?

No, he wouldn't have cared about that. So long as the job got done, he wouldn't have minded at all. Besides, if he did have an issue with it, he would have lectured Sarah for that, not her. Now she grew even more worried when she entered the room with Sarah and Cash behind her.

Sharp turned to her, his eyes narrowed. She took a deep breath and stepped forward. "Hello, Mister Sharp. You wanted to see me?"

"Yes. Sit down."

Curt and strict as always. Not wanting to the situation worse, in case it was already horrid to begin with, she quickly moved to sit down across from his desk and sat up straight. She kept her notes and bag tight against her chest, holding onto it as some sort of lifeline or shield.

Finally, he turned to her and spoke. "Miss Lunar. You interviewed Croc last Thursday."

Oh. So it _was_ about her interview with Croc. Had she done something wrong? She glanced to Sarah, but the woman was looking at her. Oh no… Something must have happened. She must have done something wrong!

She looked back the Warden and gave a nod. "Y-Yes… Doctor Cassidy supervised me."

"I see." His eyes glanced at the other doctor, who said nothing and kept her head down. Then he huffed and shook his head, turning back toward the interview. "As I'm sure you are aware, Doctor Wright is in charge of Croc during weekend duty."

Why was he bringing her up? Whatever the reason was, she knew it couldn't be good. "Y-Yes… But what–"

Sharp picked up the lone manila folder sitting on his desk and handed it to her. "During an routine examination, he grew extremely violent and attempted to murder Wright after breaking free of his bindings. The full report of the incident is there for you to observe."

While she had no idea why he was showing her this, Kelsey was horrified as she quickly looked over the report. While Wright remained uninjured, two guards had been hospitalized and one of them was in critical condition. It didn't specify what exactly had sent Croc off, only reporting that he did it "in a fit of mad rage."

But what did this have to do with her?

It was also as if Sharp had read her mind. "Once he had been restrained and taken back to his cell, he threatened to attack even more guards and doctors… Unless you became his doctor."

Her eyes widened. She had to… become Croc's doctor?! Impossible! She was just an intern! She couldn't become his doctor! She still had a lot to learn. Not to mention that Croc was one of the patients who was strictly handled by veteran psychiatrists only.

She swallowed, looking over the file again. He did all this… to make a threat? So he could become her doctor? A shiver went down her spine. She suddenly felt nauseous, her stomach turning a bit. Had Croc just made her his target? What was he plotting? Was he going to make her his next meal?

No… No. Croc was not like Zsasz. He didn't have premeditated victims or targets, excluding Batman. He attacked at random or when he felt someone needed to pay. He didn't go looking for specific innocents to murder. So why her?

She slowly looked up at Sharp. "B-But… I'm just an intern–"

"For the safety of everyone, that is no longer the case." He sat down at his desk and pulled out what Kelsey could only guess was a full-time employee contract. Her mouth fell open when he placed it on the desk with a pen next to her. "Sign this. Your internship will end and you will become a full-time Arkham staff member."

Kelsey was overwhelmed. There was no way this could be happening. Her internship was supposed to last three months! It had only been one! Yes, she wanted to become a psychiatrist here but not like this! Not while it seemed to her that she was under threat.

But what choice did she have? If she said no, she feared what not only would happen to her, but to other employees? Croc may come after her while killing people in the process. Not to mention that he would probably kill her to and "teach her a lesson." Who knows where they would find her mutilated corpse when he was done with her? If they were to ever find it…

"Warden, you can't do this!"

Everyone looked over at Sarah, who was now standing right beside Kelsey. She looked horrified, apparently this being a surprise to her as well.

"While Kelsey is one of the best interns, she's not qualified to be in charge of Croc! She's never had her own case before! You can't just assign her a Category Nine patient right away!"

"I don't have much a choice, Miss Cassidy," he said firmly. "You read the report – that beast wants her as a doctor. Would you prefer to be murdered by him instead?"

She flinched back. No. No she wouldn't. But Kelsey couldn't take over! Not like this… Something was wrong. Croc would never ask for anyone. Croc hated people. He didn't care who his doctor was – he hated all of them equally and would prefer if he never had to see them, unless it was to murder them. Why would he pick this intern? He had to have been planning something… Something must have been going on.

Joker had already turned one of their most promising doctors into an insane criminal just like him. She wouldn't let Croc turn another one.

Taking a deep breath, she swallowed her fear and stated firmly, "She cannot be put in charge of Croc. He is my patient and I will remain his doctor. Kelsey can remain under my supervisions, but she will remain an intern."

"If he's your patient, then why did you let Kelsey interview her in the first place?"

Sarah faltered a bit. "I… I was only–"

"I know you don't enjoy being in charge of Croc, Miss Cassidy," Sharp said, curtly. "This will take him off your hands."

"B-But Sharp-!"

He ignored her and looked back to Kelsey, who was just staring at the contract before her with a wide-eyed, blank expression. He didn't have time for her to contemplating her life choices right now. She had to sign the contract. He would not take no for an answer and risk any more causalities by making Croc angry.

"Miss Lunar, I _implore_ you to sign," he said, his eyes narrowing at her. "This is for the safety of everyone. And you are one of the best interns, so you will be fine. You may always ask your fellow doctors for help if necessary."

"I…"

"_Sign it_, Miss Lunar."

Sharp's patience was wearing thin. It didn't seem like she had much of a choice. Be killed and have others be killed by Croc for saying no or just sign the paper and become his doctor. Either way, she had a feeling that both options meant death… But at least one wouldn't get others murdered as well.

Maybe this would be a good opportunity though. She _had_ hoped to interview the man again… This would present a good opportunity for her career, if she thought about it more objectively. Besides, from the sound of it, it seemed that Croc would be her only patient, so she would still have time to learn the ropes of being a good doctor here.

Glancing up at Sharp, she could see him starting to grow even more impatient. Taking a deep breath, she picked up the pen and quickly read over the contract. It was basically the same as the internship papers she signed, though this one with a fixed income and her schedule would still be Monday to Friday, though she may be required to come work on weekends.

And of course, right before the signature line was the infamous line of Arkham Asylum is not responsible for both physical and mental injury or untimely deaths.

Even with that line staring at her right in the face, she signed the paper, thus making herself an official part of the Arkham staff.

She just hoped the signature also didn't include a death sentence.

* * *

><p>It would another three days before she would have her own office, but Kelsey didn't mind it much. Fortunately, her future office would be closer to Sarah's, so she could go to her for any pointers or help if she ever needed it. And considering her first and only case would be Croc, Kelsey knew she would be there often.<p>

She was currently sitting in Sarah's office, who was pulling out all the notes and files she had on her new patient to give to her. She would eventually have to visit Gretchen for the others some time this week. Preferably after she had her own office.

Kelsey looked at Sarah. Even though now she was legally a doctor, Sharp insisted that Sarah act as her mentor for a while and that Kelsey, when she wasn't busy with Croc, attend a view classes and group studies with the other interns to help her garner more knowledge in the field. Something neither was against.

Despite the agreement, Sarah wasn't happy with the outcome. She blamed herself for this. She never should have asked Kelsey to interview Croc for her. She should have someone else, _anyone_ else. Someone who was already a doctor, someone who had plenty of experience with aggressive high-risk Category Nine patients… Just anyone else but this intern. She was going to get murdered and it was all her fault.

Sarah rubbed her temples. It would only be a matter of time before this got out… She knew Cash wouldn't say anything about it unless someone asked. He wasn't one to gossip. But knowing the other guards, he would tell them and soon everyone would know. And once Gretchen found out, Christ, the woman would no doubt want her head on a silver platter. What a nightmare…

"Sarah?"

She looked back at the new doctor.

"… Are you all right?"

"Yes… Yes, I'm fine." Sarah let out a small sigh and sat down at her desk chair. "It's just… This wasn't what I wanted. I never meant for you to get involved with Croc…"

"N-No, no, really, Sarah, it's fine," Kelsey attempted to reassure her.

The poor woman. She was feeling way too much guilt of this. No one could have foreseen that this would happen, especially not Sarah. It was never her intention for this to happen.

"I shouldn't have asked you," she murmured softly, burying her face into her hands. "I should have just have done the interview myself… It's my job. But I… I was just too scared after that threat her had given me…"

"Sarah, please."

Kelsey moved closer to the woman in an attempt to calm her down. Yes, it was Sarah's job to conduct the interviews, but doctors weren't made of steel. They were still human and fear was a prominent emotion when working with inmates like the ones at Arkham. Besides, Kelsey remembered the scare she had had with Zsasz. He had almost killed her after breaking out of his cell and kidnapping her. Of course Sarah would be traumatized.

It was a surprise that she even came back to work. Kelsey wasn't sure if she would have been able to do that. Still even though she kept working, it didn't mean the fear went away. And Sarah knew that she had always wanted to do interviews and such, which was why she had picked her in the first place.

Croc wanting her to be his doctor wasn't Sarah's fault though. It just… happened. And now that she had signed the contract, there was nothing that could be done about it.

Kelsey glanced at the schedule Sharp had given her after she had left. She would have another interview with Croc at eleven and then do some lab work on him at three today. It didn't look like Sarah would be joining her either. At least she would have an hour to prepare for this.

God, it was definitely going to be a long day. She could feel it.

* * *

><p>Eleven o'clock finally came by and Kelsey wouldn't lie – she was nervous about this interview. Sarah wouldn't be with her. She would be doing this completely by herself…<p>

And to make it worse, Sharp hard ordered her to conduct said interview in one of the interrogation rooms for two reasons. One, it was the only type of room they could get Croc into. Two, some of the other doctors and Sharp wanted to observe what she did when she talked to Croc.

Kelsey didn't understand why at first. There was nothing that she did differently. She just… talked to him and tried to get through to him like the other doctors did. But Sarah explained to her that everyone wanted to know why someone who hated humanity specifically asked for someone. They would be doing the same if it were anyone else. And while she understood that, she couldn't help but feel… awkward.

Currently, she was sitting in one the rooms with her notes and the recorded at hand. She felt like a goldfish, Sharp and the other doctors watching her as they all waited for the guards to bring Croc in. She worried that this would agitate the patient. He definitely didn't like being watched or looked over as some sort of specimen…

If anything, that would just make him even angrier and act more like a savage beast.

She heard heavy, hard footsteps, making her bite her lip as she slowly looked up. Before she realized it, there were six guards moving in front of the doctors and Sharp with their guns held up. She could see Croc being escorted by Cash and three other guards. He was in chains, cuffs on his wrists and ankles, all connected to each other and his collar.

He snarled at the other doctors, glaring murderously at them. Kelsey knew that the patient wouldn't like this… Great. Now he was going to be furious with her and probably attempt to make her pay. Or at least threaten to rip her in half. Either way, she mentally prepared herself for a scare.

Her eyes fell to the door as it suddenly opened, Croc being led in by the others. His eyes narrowed at her, but she kept a straight face and held back any fear she had. Calmly, she reached over and switched on the recorder.

"Sit down!" Cash ordered the patient as they stepped in front of her.

"And if I say no?"

"Then I'll make you sit down." He held up the remote to Croc's collar, waving it in front of him as if to make his point and threat clear.

"You think that'll work on me?" he snarled, clearly furious that he was being watched like some sort of caged zoo animal. She pitied him, understanding how it must have felt. She felt a little bit like that herself, but it was no doubt worse for him.

"Cash."

The head guard turned to look at her just as she stood up and stretched out her hand.

"Give me the remote. Please. You and your men may wait outside."

"Lunar, you–"

She looked to Croc, seeing that his eyes were locked on her. Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself down and made she looked right back into his gaze. "If it's just you and I, will you sit down?"

He laughed darkly, taking a seat. She wasn't sure if that him saying yes, or if he was going to be difficult for her… Or attempt to put on some sort of act. She could never be too cautious with this man. Especially not when he was in a bad mood.

"Lunar, we–"

"He sat down, so will you please leave us?"

Cash looked between her and the patient. Kelsey had already sat back down and placed the remote in her pocket. Croc looked back at him with a dark smirk on his face. He didn't like the look. He was plotting something. He had to have been planning something!

"Cash. Please – leave."

The guard finally gave up. He knew she wanted to conduct the interview and that the other doctors and Sharp wanted to see it. If he wanted anymore time, Sharp would no doubt threaten to cut his pay. While he didn't want to leave Kelsey in here by herself, it was clear that they didn't have much of a choice anymore.

"Holler if something goes wrong, you got that?"

She nodded.

That just made Croc laugh, though. He shook his head as his chuckles died down. "You think you can stop me when I've got a head start, Cash? You should know by now that I'm quicker you think… Remember your hand?"

"Yeah, I do. And remember when I said I won't let you do that to anyone else here while I'm around? I keep my promises."

"So do I, Cash… And I'll be sure to finish you off one day."

"That's enough, both of you," Kelsey said, drawing Croc's attention to her. Why did they leave Cash in charge of this man? They knew it was a mistake! Their tempers with each other were foul, definitely the worst between a guard and an inmate. Though while she knew Cash was in charge due to his lack intimidation of the patient, it wasn't healthy or helping her at the moment. "Cash, leave us. Please."

Finally, Cash nodded and exited the room, the guards following suit. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath when she heard the buzz go off, the door's locks snapping into place, leaving her trapped with the other.

She opened her eyes and reached for her glasses, slipping them onto her face. Croc was just watching her with an unreadable expression, breathing hard and demonic like. His eyes seemed to follow her every move. As she sat up, as she moved her hand to grab a pencil, as she placed some notes and papers in front of her – his eyes followed her no matter what she did. She pretended not to notice. She had to be the one in control of this interview, not her. She had to be the one asking the questions, the one looking talking to him and asking the questions. She could not let herself be intimidated by him.

But damn, was it hard.

"Well, Croc," she said finally, letting out a heavy huff. "I would like to… apologize. For the audience. If it were up to me, we wouldn't be watched like this." She gestured to the group on the other side of the glass.

He was a bit surprised. So. She hadn't asked for these bastards. It must have been something that old bastard Sharp set up. That didn't surprise him at all. Like Cash, that stick-up-his-ass Sharp hated him and also thought him to be a beast. Then again, he thought himself above everyone at Arkham, even the other doctors and guards.

He was an idiot. Croc didn't care if he did have his own fancy office or was in charge of this fucking asylum. He was just food too. They were all his food.

"Let 'em watch… Give them a show, huh, Doc? All you doctors like that, don't you? Watching a freak like me behind glass? Like the animal you think I am?"

"I don't think of you as a freak."

"You're a damn good liar, Doc, I'll give you that."

"I'm not lying, but you choose to not believe me. Perhaps that's something we can work on today."

Croc laughed again. Using such pretty, worthless words… She was starting to sound more and more like a doctor, just like the others who had worked with him. Maybe she felt like she had to prove something to these bastards. After all, she was just some stupid intern who didn't know better… Foolish, delicious, young brat.

He leaned back in his seat, deciding to play along for a little bit. After all, he would be here for a while… Unless he grew bored and decided he wanted out. It only took a little violence to have that happen, but a part of him was curious as to what the woman would do next.

"How about you ask me your questions, Doc? I can tell you've got some in store for me…"

Kelsey exhaled deeply and pointed to the report from Saturday on her desk. "It seems you requested me again… But you didn't have to do it so… violently."

His mouth curled up into a smirk. "I had to get the message across… With these fucking pricks, if you don't make the point right away, they won't get it."

"You could have killed them, Croc."

"So? I got what I wanted and that's all that matters… You should be flattered."

Kelsey's eyes narrowed at that. Now he was just playing games with her… Or at least trying to make her angry. Whatever the case was, he was clearly enjoying himself. In anything, he seemed rather proud, smug. She expected no less.

"I'm not flattered," she stated firmly, pushing the paper aside. "But I am curious – you have a long history of misanthropy, especially towards the staff here at Arkham. So why me?"

That actually made Croc grow quiet for a bit as he thought to himself. Yes… why her, indeed. She was just some stupid intern. A dumb little bitch hoping to make it big like that Doctor Young. But at least this woman seemed a lot less cold-hearted and actually gave a shit about her patients and not what sort of experiments she could perform on them.

But she… Kelsey. That was the first time someone had told him he was… human. Those other doctors never said that. They just said that they could cure him, whatever the fuck that meant. The only thing he wanted cured was the way he looked. But they couldn't do that. They were too stupid to make him normal, giving him the same old excuse that "no one is really normal."

Such bullshit. There was a normal because they were normal. They didn't look like monsters or animals and they had never been treated like one their entire damned lives. If they wanted to help so much, then they should make a cure to make him look normal. But no. They couldn't. So they were useless.

"Croc?"

He looked to her.

"Why did you want me to become your doctor?"

Like hell he would actually give her the real reason. He didn't want her thinking she was special or something stupid like that. All she had done was peak his interest and nothing more. He was usually bored when trapped in here. At least maybe this bitch could provide him with some entertainment for the time being.

He smirked. "Maybe because you smell good and I thought you'd be a good snack for me in case I get hungry."

A small wave of fear came over her, but she tried not to let it show on her face. So he was thinking of eating her… Well, he was a cannibal, so it was only normal for him. Another thing she would definitely have to help him overcome. Dear God, this list just seemed to be growing endlessly.

"Croc, you know eating people is an immoral issue we need to discuss."

"And if I say fuck off?"

"Then I'll ask you politely to comply unless you have another topic in mind."

Politely, huh? This woman was rich… As was her scent. He took a whiff of the air, her sweet smell filling his nose. So sweet, delectable… His mouth was starting to water. He wanted, no… He _needed_ a bite. It had been so long since he had had human blood, human flesh.

Kelsey started talking again, but he ignored her. He glanced over at the people watching him, glaring at him. The guards were far from the door. He was quicker than them, especially considering his longer legs, despite the chains. He looked back at the door before glancing at his chair.

Perfect.

He suddenly stood up, startling Kelsey and making her flinch back. "Cr-Croc-?!"

But he had already picked up the chair and quickly shuffled over to the door. Panic arose outside and Kelsey swore she could hear Sarah scream out her name, the guards shouting orders as Cash and four others rushed to the door to get there before Croc.

They were too late as the man already jammed the door shut with the chair. They started pounding on the door, trying to break in down and open it with force. But it wasn't work, leaving her trapped with the patient. With Croc, a notorious cannibal who had just said he wanted to eat her for a snack. She stiffened in fright when he looked back to her, toxic yellow eyes wide and locked on her. Oh no… Oh no.

"KELSEY!"

Sarah's scream helped her snap out of it as the patient charged at her. Letting out a scream of her own, instinct told her to grab her metal chair and throw it at him. But it did little to deter him, so she tried running back in an attempt to get away.

She ended up tripping over her own feet and landing hard on her back, the remote to his collar sliding out of her pocket. Right! She had that! Quickly she grabbed it and held it out in front of her, making sure that Croc saw it. He stopped in his tracks when he saw that her thumb was hovering over the button.

"St-Stay back…" she stuttered, trying to sound collected and stern. Instead though, her voice came out high-pitched laced with fear.

It made Croc laugh as he stalked toward her, taking delight in the fear in her eyes and trembling body. "Whatcha gonna do, Doc? Zap me? Go ahead… It just tickles."

"I-I don't want to us-use this, Croc… I-I don't want to have to… treat you like a monster."

That had caught him off guard. Seriously? Even now she still thought of them as the same? Both human? What a damn fool. He was never human. Humans didn't look like him. Humans didn't feed like him. They were normal, weak, worthless things. They were not the same.

So why did she think them the say and not treat him like the monster everyone said he was?

He lunged out his hand and roughly grabbed her shirt, yanking her off the ground and causing her to scream. Sensing just how much danger she was actually in, she was about to press down on the button when he suddenly grabbed her arm and brought it to his mouth. Kelsey paled when she felt him breathe against her skin, his teeth lightly grazing the fabric.

"KELSEY!"

"LUNAR! HOLD ON, LUNAR!"

Kelsey couldn't even hear them. She was too focused on the dark, sadistic look Croc was giving her, the patient clearly enjoying this. Was this why he wanted her as his doctor? So he could terrorize her like this?

"Drop the remote or I'll bite your arm off."

She wasn't about to chance it, letting go immediately and letting it fall to the floor. He released her arm, but brought her closer to his face. It was just like the first time she had entered his cell. When he had grabbed her and pulled her to him. Except this time, she didn't have guards pointing guns at him. She was alone.

And it looked like she had just become Croc's next meal.

"No where to run now, Doc… Guess you should have thought this out better."

"P-Put me down…!" she squeaked out, gripped his wrist tightly as she tried to kick at him. "P-Put me down, now!"

Croc laughed before he slammed her down on top of the table, making her cry out in pain. But the pain turned to fear when his claws moved to the top of her left shoulder, grabbing a hold of her coat and shirt fabric before giving it a hard yank. She screamed when she realized her entire left shoulder was exposed, terror taking over her.

Oh God… He was going to kill her. He was going to eat her right then and there in front of everyone! Was this because of a point he had to make? Was he trying to prove something to them? To her? About how he wasn't a human?

She had to talk herself out of this. She had to buy time somehow! The guard were trying to get the door open and she could see that it was starting to work, though slowly. If she could just stall for a little bit… Or at least convince him not to eat her, she wouldn't end up a as mutilated corpse on the floor.

"Cr-Croc," she said, her voice quivering as she stared into his wild eyes. "Pl-Please… D-Don't do this."

"Don't think you read my file enough," he chuckled, leaning down and breathing hard against her skin. "This is what I do, remember, Doc?"

Not that he was planning to kill her. Oh no, she was the most fun he had since being forced back in here. If he killed her, they would give him that Sarah bitch again. But Kelsey's scent… He just wanted a taste. A small lick of her flesh and blood, nothing that she wouldn't miss. And maybe it would be a warning to her to never double-cross him. Maybe now she would see him as the monster everyone knew him to be.

"Hold still, bitch."

Her eyes widened in terror when he suddenly lunged down and sunk his raise sharp teeth into her shoulder. She threw back her head, mouth falling open. The shock of the point came first, causing her to freeze up as her entire body went stiff. She wasn't dead… He hadn't pierced any area around her heart or anywhere vital in her neck. She was alive…

And then the pain came rushing forward ten-fold. She shut her eyes tightly and screamed in agony. While she knew the bite could have been more vicious, he could have taken off her entire shoulder but instead, it was just a simple bite, the pain was still there. It was like getting attacked by a rabid dog. The bite painful and rough, but not powerful enough to wear he could rip off a part of her body.

Croc ignored the woman's screams and the screams and shouts of the people outside the room. He was far too focused on the woman's blood and skin tissue pouring into his mouth. He made sure to not touch the bone or else he would lose control of himself and just rip off her flesh. He didn't want to kill the woman… Not now anyway.

And her blood… Christ. It was so fucking sweet and delectable. He savored it, wanting to fully enjoy the taste. He had never had anything so delicious before… Her blood was different from any other worthless human he had come across. It was like a gourmet meal… He didn't want to finish it, instead hold onto it as long as he could so he go back for more again and again later.

"L-Let go…!" she choked out. "C-Croc…! Pl-Please! L-Let go!"

The door was finally busted down, the chair flying back and hitting the wall. Croc immediately jerked away from her and looked behind him, only to be pelted with tranquilizers stabbing into his back. The inmate roared, finally releasing his doctor as he reached to pull the darts out of his back.

It proved to be useless as the drugs were meant to take out a full-grown elephant. And he had been shot with at least four of these things… His strength was fading fast and the more he fought it, the quicker his strength failed him. It made it easier for the guards to come in and subdue him, keeping him pinned and away from Kelsey, who was still lying on the desk in a daze.

Sarah, who had gotten up from her seat outside to run into the room, and Cash immediately ran to her side.

"Kelsey?!" Sarah cried, rushing over to her. "Kelsey, can you hear me?! Kelsey!"

Kelsey opened her mouth, blinking rapidly as she tried to gather her bearings. Her shoulder still hurt, but it was more of an ache than the piercing pain it had been just a few minutes ago. Wait, where had Croc gone? He was just on top of her…

"She's in shock." But then Sarah shook her head, turning to Cash and giving him a hard look. "Come on, we need to take her to the infirmary. Now!"

The head guard didn't need to be told twice. Quickly, but gingerly, he lifted the injured doctor and held her against his chest. Damn it… He and some of the other guards should have stayed in here with her. He shouldn't have listened to her. He knew that animal was planning something! Shit, she was lucky to be alive.

Kelsey didn't say anything as she was carried away and past the now restrained inmate. Their eyes locked for a little bit. She saw his mouth curl up into a smile, teeth and lips stained with her blood. It was the last thing she remembered seeing before the shock and blood loss exhausted her, falling into an unconscious state.

* * *

><p>When Kelsey woke up another hour later, she was in the infirmary with Sarah, Gretchen, and three officers standing guard. Her shoulder had been patched up; she hadn't needed any stitches and it didn't seem like anything had been broken. Other than a few bruises on her back and the bite, she would be fine.<p>

As for Croc, he had been transported to isolation and would be there for at least for a few weeks, if not longer. Cash would tell her the specifics eventually, but he was busy with Croc and reviewing some securities issues. Just what the inmate needed – more securities measures taken against him. Kelsey knew that this would only make the situation worse, but everyone seemed content with the punishment and upgrade in security.

That didn't make Gretchen less outraged by the situation.

"You never should have gotten involved with him, Miss Lunar," she hissed, eyes narrowed at the woman on the bed. Kelsey didn't say anything back, knowing that the other was probably right. "This is exactly what I was worried about! He tried to kill you!"

"Gretchen, please, she needs rest–"

Sarah only made the older woman's rage turn towards her. The other doctor flinched back and kept her head down, bracing herself for the head psychiatrist's wrath.

"_You_…"

Sarah stiffened.

"If you had just had interviewed him yourself." Gretchen's voice was cold, harsh. She was doing her best to keep her anger in, but the fury was still evident in her tone. Sarah knew it too and chose to remain silent. "Why didn't you just ask Sharp to switch you with another doctor? Someone who actually had experience with him!"

"I… I know."

God, the guilt was eating her alive. Kelsey was hurt because of Croc. Because she had interviewed him last week. Because she had begged the other to do it for her. Sarah knew that this was all her doing because she was too much of a coward. He had threatened her over and over again, every day telling her what he was going to do to her once he escaped, how he could going to drag her down to his lair, teach her a lesson, and eat her alive…

So many times she had tried to ask Sharp to switch her. She had even offered to take on more work if he put someone else in charge of Croc! But he didn't listen. He didn't have time for that. She could handle it. He was busy… So many excuses and reasons as to why he wouldn't switch her.

And now Kelsey had paid the price.

"W-Wait, Doctor Whistler."

Both women looked to Kelsey, who slowly moved to sit up. Her shoulder protested in pain, but she ignored it. Seeing she was having some trouble, Sarah helped her up and gently rubbed her back. Kelsey gave her a small smile before looking back to meet with Gretchen's hard gaze.

She swallowed. "Doctor Whistler, please, Sarah didn't mean for this to happen. She didn't plan for Croc to–"

"I know she didn't. That doesn't change the fact that she knew Croc was unpredictable and dangerous. You're not experienced enough to be his doctor, Miss Lunar."

Kelsey bit her bottom lip and looked down at her hands, which had clenched into fists. She already knew that. Everyone knew that. She had just been an intern not even four hours ago. Croc was her only patient because he had threatened to kill people unless she was. Even then, she couldn't handle him and had practically stared death in the face when he attacked her…

But she didn't want to give up on him. Croc was difficult, warped, and mentally ill. She wanted to cure him. There was a chance for him, unlike some of the other inmates. She just needed to get through to him. And maybe she had a chance. After all, he hadn't killed her, even though everyone had thought he would. And he had asked for her specifically. That could be seen as a step forward in the right direction, at the very least.

She looked back up at Gretchen with a firm expression. "Doctor Whistler, I… appreciate the concern. And I understand what you're saying, but unless something changes, I… will continue to be his doctor."

The other two doctors just stared at her as if she had gone mad. But it wasn't as if their reactions were unjustified. She had just been attacked by the man. She should have feared him and never want to be near him again. Maybe they had even thought that she would even believe that Croc truly was a monster.

But that wasn't the case. Yes, she found herself more wary of him and had more reason to fear him. But he still wasn't a monster. Just a human with great mental issues that needed to be dealt with. She didn't want to give up yet.

"Kelsey, please, I'll go back to being in charge of Croc," Sarah pleaded, trying to get the woman to lie down again. "Y-You can just go back to your internship and–"

She shook her head. "Croc… asked for me and me specifically. He probably only did this to scare me… And while it worked, I-I'm not going to give up. I don't want you getting hurt either, Sarah."

"Miss Lunar–"

But she was already shaking her head. She knew Gretchen and Sarah meant well, but they knew that if she didn't continue to be Croc's doctor until he said otherwise, it would only make things worse. Besides, unless Sharp

"I'll be fine… I'll remain in charge of Croc until Sharp reassigns me." She looked to Sarah, who was just staring at her with wide eyes. "Did Sharp say anything about reassigning me?"

"… N-No… No, he didn't."

She nodded. Then she supposed that settled it then. She would remain Croc's doctor and nothing could change that. At least for now anyway.

She just hoped that this wouldn't lead to her untimely demise.

* * *

><p>Croc hated isolation. He was chained to the wall, only able to sit down or stand up, but never move away. He was being constantly watched by four cameras in the corners of the small windowless metal room. His collar was placed on its maximum setting and if he even tried to resist his chains a little, he would be shocked. No doubt that he would probably be stuck in here for a long while for what he did.<p>

But he found himself surprisingly fine with it right now. It had been worth it, seeing that bitch frightened of him when he attacked her. That was the way things were supposed to. He was meant to be feared and he had just shown that bitch that he wasn't human.

If he had been human, he wouldn't have been so damn satisfied with the taste he had gotten from her. Shit, it was… delicious. Unlike anything he had ever tasted before. Something so sweet and savory… He wondered why for a moment, but decided it wasn't important. He couldn't let something like that go to waste. He would get all of her eventually.

Probably not any time soon though. Knowing how most people were, she would want nothing to do with him. Not that she had much of a choice now though, since she was his official doctor.

A buzz ripped through his ears, making him glance up to see that the door had opened. He huffed and figured it was just Cash ready to rip into him more, so he moved his head to look back down at the ground. He didn't want to deal with this asshole's bullshit right now. Or have to inhale his dull scent.

But when the door shut behind them and he sniffed the air, it wasn't Cash. He jerked his head up to see his doctor standing there, the remote to his collar in hand as she just stared at him with a blank expression.

What was she doing here? He wasn't hallucinating, he knew that. She didn't even look afraid… Impossible. He had attacked her. She should have been terrified of him and not want to have anything to do with him, let alone come near him. Had she lost her fucking mind or something? Or was she just an idiot? He suspected the latter since the bitch actually thought that they were the same.

She slowly walked toward him, making him smirk. Oh… Oh, he could see her hesitation, her fear. It was in her eyes. Bright hazel eyes looking at him with fear… So she was scared of him. Was she a masochist?

He laughed. "Come back for more, huh? Want me to eat you whole this time?"

She stopped when she was just out of his arm's reach. Then her eyes narrowed at him as she stood up straight, trying to make herself appear taller than she was.

"Are you proud of yourself?"

"The fuck are you talking about?"

"It's my job to psychoanalyze your behavior, Croc. I know you attacked me on purpose… You wanted me to be scared, didn't you?"

He had to laugh. All right, so maybe the doctor wasn't as stupid as she seemed. He could give her props for that much. "Maybe," he said, sitting up a bit as he leaned back against the wall. "What're you going to do about it, Doc? Try to rationalize with me why that was wrong?"

Croc was expecting her to either say yes or tell him no give him some bullshit reason why. He was not expecting her to press the button to his collar and send volts down into his body. He snarled and twitched in light pain, jerking and letting out small roars as he tried to find a way to ease the small pain.

It ended as quickly as it began though, Kelsey releasing the button and giving a heavy sigh. She gave him an apologetic look before her expression hardened again, sliding the remote back into her lab coat pocket.

"You fucking bitch…" he snarled, eyes glowing with rage. She did it… She actually fucking did it!

"Don't make me use that on you again," she said sternly. "You wanted to get your point across and I wanted to get mine… I don't want to treat you like a monster, Croc, because I don't think you're one."

"Then what the fuck do you call using that collar on me? Humane?"

"I think the more appropriate term would be revenge."

He was taken aback a bit by the response. But she gave him a small smile, allowing him to understand that she was just joking. Seriously? A fucking joke? She… was just way too damn interesting for her own good.

What the hell even was she? She treated like him a normal person, even after he had attacked her. Her flesh and blood were divine. Even though she was clearly wary of him, she was still treating him like… another human being. It was surprising. It was amusing. And he didn't think he would grow tired of this any time soon.

He let out a low chuckle and shook his head. "So… You asked me before why I wanted you to be my doctor."

She blinked. Why was he bringing this up? "I did."

"I'll tell you why."

Kelsey's eyes widened. He was serious? She waited a few moments to try and snap at her or scare her again, mentally preparing herself to get another fright. But it didn't happen. He made no moves to hurt her or attempt to grab her. He just looked at her in the eye with a smug expression.

Taking a deep breath, she said, "Very well… Why?"

"Because you're too damn amusing."

She titled her head, confused. Amusing? Like… some sort of toy? Was that how he saw her? If that was the case… It certainly explained a lot. He was just playing with her and testing his limits and boundaries. Much like a small child with his parents.

Kelsey folded her arms across his chest. "I'm not a toy, Croc."

"You are to me…" he chuckled darkly, his eyes locking with hers. "You give me something to do while I'm stuck here for the time being. And if I get bored with you, I'll kill you. I don't need someone around who I find useless."

The doctor took as both a threat and a challenge. Very well. If that was how he wanted to play, then she would have to play along for both of their sakes. He wanted to mess with her and she wanted to cure him. It was probably dangerous of her to go along with this, but it wasn't as if she had any other options. And if she did, she had no idea what they were.

"Then I'll see you the next interview… And due to your actions, it most likely won't be until next week."

He shook his head at that and chuckled. "See you then, _Doctor Lunar_."

"Goodbye."

Then she walked out of the room and shut the door behind her, trying to calm down her rapidly beating heart. Dear God, that had been way more frightening than she would have liked it to be. Still, at least she had been able to talk to him about what had happened… and find out why he wanted her in the first place.

She would have to find a way to make herself as "amusing" as possible for while still trying to session him and cure him. It was the only way he would listen and she would live. It would be hard, she was sure of it, but she knew it would be a challenge.

But then again, every patient was a challenge, so she would do it, one way or another.


	5. Chapter 5

Since she wouldn't be able to do much work on Croc for another week, Kelsey spent the next few days at work going over some blood work and other tests while organizing her new office. It was right next to Gretchen's, probably due to an order by Sharp since they needed to be more cautious about her and Croc.

Gretchen was furious to know that Kelsey would still be working with the inmate. Apparently, she had tried to convince Sharp to give her Croc and let Kelsey have one of her other patients, like the Riddler or Harley. But the warden refused and told Gretchen that she needed to focus on her own work as Kelsey was no longer her intern.

As everyone had guessed, Gretchen had been infuriated with it and stormed out, but not before insulting the man with venom in her voice. It was a good thing Gretchen was so valued at Arkham or else she could have gotten fired.

With her office set up and most of her tests completed with her patient stuck in isolation, Gretchen had invited Kelsey to attend an interview with the rest of the interns on Arkham's most fascinating, if not most dangerous, case study: the Joker.

Doctor McCarthy was in charge of him, a brilliant and stoic man who had been working with the Joker after he had turn Harley mad and killed Doctor Young. Kelsey thought of him as the make version of Gretchen, though much more iron-faced and coldhearted. From what Gretchen told her, McCarthy was a hard man to break and the Joker had yet to succeed.

But from what she could see now, he was sure enjoying himself as he tried to make the other crack.

"Come on, McCarthy, you're going to have to try harder than that if you want to actually get anywhere with me~"

Joker, who was lying down on a stretcher and strapped down to it, was clearly having a good time, despite looking a bit haggard. Ever since the breakout, he just looked… off. She wasn't the only one who noticed either, but either no one wanted to say anything or no one cared enough. Considering who it was, she guessed the latter.

Despite his deteriorating state, it was obvious mental state was still crazed and as sharp as usual.

"Doc, you can't just leave the new interns hanging like this!" He jerked his head to look at the seven of them standing on the opposite wall, two of the younger women flinching back in fright at the crazed, wide smile on his face. "Look at them… Tsk, tsk, tsk, the poor things look so bored. You're not doing a good job at teaching them anything."

"They're merely here to observe," the white-haired doctor said sternly.

"Observe what? How you try to pick into my mind and cure me? Make me a better man?"

"More among the lines of how to deal with a difficult patient."

He howled with laughter, shaking his head and throwing it around like a wild animal. Kelsey quickly wrote down about how entertained he was. He certainly knew how to dance around subjects and annoy others, even better than the Riddler. Mainly it was because the Joker was doing it just because it was fun and gave him a good laugh. The Riddler usually annoyed people because of how much of a stuck-up genius he was.

A matter of intentional manipulation versus simple arrogance, and Joker was the king of the former.

"Joker, I want to discuss your childhood… Your real childhood and not simply your fairytales and borrowed movies plot."

"Now, that's not much fun, is it, Doc?"

"It is not a matter of fun. It is a matter of curing you."

He laughed again. "Right! Right, right, right… I forgot. You think you can cure me! Make me a better man… Well, Doc, I can honestly tell you that you can't~ And you won't~ But props for you for playing our little game!"

McCarthy was starting to lose his patience again. He had just snapped at the man only ten minutes before. Even after working with the Joker for several months now, zero progress had been made. His analysis of him had, once again, differed from all other mental illnesses the patient had been diagnosed with.

Another dead end on the lost-cause patient. Kelsey knew that, for the Joker, there wasn't hope. He was mad, yes, insane even – but he did it for fun. A villain who did everything he did to have fun with his favorite nemesis, Batman. She didn't want to be pessimistic about him, but she had read his files and all the reports on him. The madman only did what he did to have fun. Nothing more and nothing less, enjoying the cat and mouse game he would play with Batman until the day one of them died.

She looked up to see that the Joker was looking right back at her. Her eyes widened ever so slightly as her body seized up in fear. Was he looking at her? Or the group? She couldn't be too sure, but the stare was too much for her and she quickly went back to look at her notes and pretended to write something.

Joker laughed again, but this time, it was much darker, much more haunting than his previous cackles. The temperature in the room dropped a bit as her spine went cold. Oh God… He had been looking at her, hadn't he?

"Well, well, well…" Oh no, even his voice had reached a darker tone. "Who do we have hear? Why, if it isn't the famous Kelsey Lunar? Oh ho ho ho ho~~~ you're practically famous, you know~"

"Joker," McCarthy growled. "The interns are just here to observe!"

"Yes, yes, yes, observe you failing at curing me." He never turned back to look at him, his eyes still watching Kelsey intently.

Fear took over her, crawling up her spine as she felt her insides clench. Damn it, why did everyone know who she is?! She needed to keep a low profile or something, because this was just too much… She didn't want a target on her back. She didn't want to end up dead like Doctor Young. And with the Joker, there were always fates worse than death involved. She feared to know what those could be if he took interest into her too.

"Now! Let's talk about you, Lunar – tell me, what made the Killer Croc so enthralled with you? What makes you so special?"

"Joker!"

"Oh, you must have done something, now, didn't you? And here I thought I was a master at manipulation!"

He started laughing again, shaking his head. Kelsey knew that she should just stay quiet. If she actually answered back, it would only encourage him and entice him more. He was the last person she ever wanted to get involved with.

"Joker!"

"Oh, for the love of – what?!"

"That. Is. Enough." McCarthy moved his chair around where his patient laid and kept himself in between the clown and the interns. "She has nothing to do with this. You are here to talk to me. That is it."

He groaned and shook his head. "But you bore me, Doc… It's gotten so old, don't you think? Me coming in here, chatting with you about these useless trivia questions that mean very little to your data or my files… So old and boring. I believe it's time for something new! A change! A–"

The man suddenly broke out into a series of violent, hard coughs, hacking up spit as he jerked over to the side. Another fit. He had been having a lot of those recently… The man was definitely sick, but no one could say exactly with what since no one had tested him. No one seemed to want to bother with it either, from what she understood.

Oh well. As long as his attention had been pulled away from her, she was fine with that. But at least she could learn something from this interview… The patients loved to try and take control, to make the session fun for themselves. Croc had been the same when he had bitten and attacked her. They all wanted to have the power and the control and nothing less than that. And because of who they are and what they did for a living when they were trapped behind bars, they were all pretty damn good at it.

She would definitely need to find a good technique to counter Croc whenever he did this next in their future sessions.

* * *

><p>The rest of the workweek had been relatively uneventful. She had mainly gone back and forth between helping Sarah, helping Gretchen, and analyzing data on Croc. She didn't have to attend any of their other interview sessions, something she was actually grateful for. If the Joker knew of her, she feared to know who else knew about her.<p>

She was already involved with Croc. She didn't want to get involved with anyone else. That would be suicidal to put so many targets on her back. She knew that people thought her to be an idiot sometimes, but she wasn't that stupid.

Luckily for her though, her weekend wasn't as boring as she had first thought it would be. Bruce had called her and invited her out to dinner on Saturday night. He had originally asked to dinner Friday night, but she knew that wouldn't be good for her. She was so exhausted on Friday that after she got home, she just showered and collapsed on her bed, not even making time to eat.

Oh well. Saturday was better anyway. Now she actually had time to get dressed and ready for the dinner. Considering it was Bruce, she knew it was being an expensive and elegant restaurant. She had wished it wouldn't be considering she couldn't afford it, but Bruce didn't mind paying for her, as embarrassing as that was for her. She didn't want him to have to pay for everything, even if he could afford it no problem.

She looked over herself in the mirror. She had found a nice dark purple dressed hidden in the back of her closet. At first, she had been confused by its presence, but then she remembered that Bruce had gotten it for her when they had been dating all those years ago. Good Lord, did that bring back some memories.

They had met in college, when she was a freshman and he had been a senior. She hadn't thought much of him when they had first met at the mixer party her friend had dragged her to. Well, no, not quite. She had been a bit in awe at meeting the Bruce Wayne, who had been a bit of a celebrity at their school at the time. And she thought of him as a playboy, but never forceful or aggressive.

Somehow, she had gotten roped into dating him and, from there, the relationship just… took off. She had found him to be very charming, very sweet, and he always put her first. Even though she was a nobody, he treated her as an equal. He enjoyed spoiling her from time to time, much to her embarrassment, but she didn't hate it. She had been in love and, at one point, she had even thought that they would get married since they had been together for nearly three years.

But then he said he was going away for a long time. That he was going to travel and learn some things, things he wouldn't share with her. When she had demanded, pleaded, and even begged him to share with her, he wouldn't.

He claimed it was to protect her. She could only see it as him being selfish. At the time, she didn't know he was going to travel the world to master battling injustice, but even now that she knew, it still hurt. She had always known that something was never right with Bruce. His parents had been murdered in front of him; of course that would leave psychological scars. He was damaged, in a way. And she didn't think Bruce really realized it either.

She still remembered the ultimatum she had given him before they had broken up. Either he would tell her the truth or she would leave him. All she had wanted was the truth. She had been so sure that he would have chosen to tell her over her leaving him.

But he hadn't. Hell, he didn't even ask her to wait for him. He had only said he was sorry, but this was something he had to do. That was all she remembered before walking out on him and returning to her mother's to cry.

She shook her head of such thoughts. That was the past. It was no longer important. She and Bruce were just friends now and only that.

Giving a small sigh, she looked over herself in the mirror. She was definitely ready to go… Now it was just a matter of Bruce making it. She hoped he would be able to, but she knew that he had other responsibilities with his crime fighting. From what she understood, he was out the past two nights trying to track down Black Mask.

Her phone vibrated, making her pick it up and look down at it. She smiled. Well, it didn't seem he would be running off anywhere tonight to fight anyone… At least not tonight anyway.

Quickly, she grabbed her purse and a jacket, throwing her phone and keys into her purse after closing and locking the door behind her. She wondered where Bruce would be taking her to dinner. From what she had heard, a new high-class restaurant had opened… Was he going to take her there or one of the more refined, old bistros? Perhaps she should have asked before she accepted.

She always had had a bad habit of never asking the little specifics like that.

Kelsey waved to the billionaire as she approached the car. He smiled and waved back, opening the door for her to get into the car. Well, from how he was dressed in a nice formal suit, she could assume that they were going to a more formal, finer place. Glancing at herself, she wondered for a moment if she was underdressed. Should she go back and change?

Bruce entered the car and looked to her with that same charming smile she remembered him using a lot when they were younger. "You look very nice, Kelsey."

She had to laugh and shake her head. He was even trying to act charming as well. Then again, in this persona, he always was. "Thank you, as do you, Bruce. So where are we headed?"

He started the engine. "It's a surprise."

She rolled her eyes at that, but decided to just nod and accept it. If the man wanted to play the cheeky playboy, she would play along. Besides, she really just wanted to get to the restaurant and eat – she was starving.

* * *

><p>Sure enough, it was indeed a first-class restaurant with expensive wine and food all over the menu. Bruce had gotten them a table in the back for both their privacy and Kelsey's comfort. She hadn't been to a restaurant like this in years and even back then, she still felt awkward and out of place. She hadn't come from money like he had, so these sort of rich settings just weren't ones she was used to.<p>

Luckily for her, Bruce was aware of this and thus, they were in the back. She had thought that Barbara would be there too, but no. It was just the two of them in a rather dimmed secluded area with expensive sweet wine that she couldn't afford be served to them.

This… was different. Strange. She couldn't help but to eye Bruce suspiciously about all of this. They were just friends. Ex-lovers. But the set-up did not look like a nice meal out with an old friend. This was starting to look more and more like a date. A very romantic date at that.

Her eyes narrowed as she suddenly flashed back to the kiss. He had been lying then. He knew he had kissed her. And now they were on a date.

Bruce saw her looking at him, causing him to raise an eyebrow. "Something wrong?"

"… This seems like a date, don't you think?"

He sipped his wine. "Perhaps it is one."

"Bruce."

He didn't seem surprised by the stern tone in her voice.

"Is this a date?"

"It is."

Her eyes had widened while he just looked back at her with a calm expression. She had thought he would deny it or try to dance his way around the entire matter. But no. Instead, he just came out and admitted it directly. He clearly wasn't trying to hide anything and he didn't appear to be making fun of her and trying to make a joke either.

Damn it, now her headache had just gotten worse.

Let out a deep breath, she stretched up a hand to rub her eyes. "Bruce…" she started off slowly, only to pause to take a sip of the wine. Yeah, she needed some of this. "We're just friends. That's all we have been since we broke up–"

"I never wanted to break up with you."

She blinked at the interruption. His tone was honest, sincere… He was looking straight at her, gaze unwavering as he held her attention to him. She couldn't find it in her to talk back to him, clearing seeing that he had much more to say and that he wanted to say it without interruption. Out of curiosity, she remained silence.

"I never wanted to break up with you," he repeated, leaning forward a bit. "Kelsey… It was something I had to do. It was something I _needed_ to do. That didn't mean I wanted to leave you behind."

She shook her head and let out a soft laugh. "Then you should have told me where you were going and why."

"I couldn't. I didn't want you to get hurt."

"I still did–"

"I know…. I know." He paused only for a few moments before starting up again. "I should have asked you to wait for me, but I couldn't. I was… afraid."

She titled her head, even more confused than she was before. Afraid? Afraid of what?

It was as if Bruce had heard her question. "I was determined to come back. I knew I would… I wanted to protect Gotham. I wanted to protect everyone, including you. But… I didn't want to hold you back from living your own life and I didn't want you to get hurt. I wanted to protect you, but… I was afraid I wouldn't. Or maybe that you wouldn't want me to do that."

Kelsey bit her bottom lip and looked down at her hands. No. She wouldn't have wanted him to do what he had done. Even though he had been fighting crime for so long now, Bruce was still just a man. And this just was not healthy for him, physically or mentally. He was saving the city and other people's lives, but at what cost?

It was something she had always worried about. She knew of his past. She knew of his desire to protect. He knew about his code and his sense of justice. Everyone did. But it was more than just a want. It was a _need_ for him. He _needed_ to be Batman, he _needed_ to combat crime and fight against it, to bring justice to those who had caused others so much pain and suffering, much like that murderer of his parents.

Now it was really a question of who was the real Bruce? It certainly was not Bruce Wayne the billionaire playboy. She briefly recalled the Joker's rambles about Batman. About how they were alike. About how they needed each other, completed each other. The Joker was his antithesis and Batman fed from it, breathed it.

In a way, Joker wasn't wrong, and that frightened her. Bruce could never go back to how things were prior to being Batman. It was who he was, as dangerous as it was for both his life and his sanity.

It was why after she had learned about Bruce's secret, she had actually been glad that they had broken up. She didn't think that she would have been able to handle it well, if at all. Even though she still worried about him now, the fear would have been even worse if she was still his girlfriend.

Her hands curled up into fists as she brought them to her lap. Even so, she still cared deeply for the other. It was a love, yes, but not the kind of love that it had been.

"Kelsey. I still love you. Very much."

Her cheeks reddened as her heart raced a bit. It wasn't supposed to be that kind of love. Her love was different. Her loved had changed. She couldn't be with him anymore. It was too late and far too dangerous… And she worked at Arkham, so that had to say something.

"I'm not asking you for a reply or asking you to consider it." Bruce knew better than to do that. He knew it was bad enough that he had sprung this upon her. Besides, it was too dangerous for her to be involved with him, whether it was as Bruce or Batman. He didn't want her to get hurt – he just wanted her to know the truth. "I only wanted you to know."

Kelsey could only nod. Dear God… what was this? This couldn't have happened. But she knew it had. She had wanted to believe that she been hallucinating, but she knew she wasn't. Bruce still had feelings for her. Bruce still loved her, even after all this time. Even after she had believed he wanted nothing to do with her romantically anymore.

"Kelsey."

She looked up at him.

"I'm sorry if I upset you."

"No… No, Bruce, it's just…" She let out a heavy breath and shook her head, trying to collect her thoughts. "It's just… a lot to take in."

"… Do you want me to take you back to your apartment?"

She shook her head again. It would have been a waste to do that. She had gotten ready and he had already taken time out of his schedule for this. Besides, they had already ordered wine. To leave now would be a waste.

"Let's… just continue with the dinner," she said, picking up her wine glass. She _would_ definitely need more of this tonight. "And it's not a date."

He cracked a small smile and took a sip from his glass. "Right… Not a date."

* * *

><p>In an attempt to forget about what they had been talking about before, Kelsey had drank a little too much wine and ended up getting incredibly tipsy because of it. If it weren't for her drunken mindset, she would have been more embarrassed about her behavior at such an elegant restaurant, but luckily for her, Bruce was able to brush it off and escort her out quietly after they finished eating.<p>

In the car ride home, she was a giggling mess, bubbly and hyper and obviously out of it. Bruce would have thought the behavior to be cute if he wasn't concerned about how she would feel in the morning. He hoped she wouldn't be too sick or hung-over… But she didn't seem drunk, just tipsy, so hopefully she would just wake up with a nasty headache.

When he pulled up to her apartment, he knew that he would have to walk her up so she wouldn't hurt herself. Hell, when she had tried getting out the car herself, she almost fell face first onto the concrete floor.

She clung to him as he helped her up to her apartment. Taking her purse from her, he unlocked her door and helped her inside before closing the door behind them. At this point, her giggling had died down and it was pretty obvious to him that she was ready to crash soon.

Giving a soft huff, he lifted her up and held her to his chest. She didn't seem to protest; if anything, she actually snuggled up against his chest and gave a small yawn. He had forgotten how childlike she was whenever she had too much to drink. It was kind of cute, but he knew how embarrassed she was about getting intoxicated and acting like this.

Walking over to her bed, he gently lied her down on the soft surface and rested her against the pillows. She mumbled out something, still half-awake, but curled up into a small ball and snuggled into the sheets. He gave a soft laugh and carefully slipped off her heels before grabbing the blanket folded at the edge of the bed to cover her with it.

She mumbled something out, but was probably not just sleep talking at this point. Bruce reached down and gently ran his fingers across her cheek. He briefly thought about staying the night, just to make sure that she would be fine come morning and perhaps just to spend a little more time with her. The night hadn't exactly gone as he had planned, but he had just been glad to see that Kelsey didn't run away from him.

But when he heard sirens blaring outside, he knew he couldn't stay. He took a deep and heavy breath as his hand curled into a fist. Something as trivial as this could not get in the way of those who needed him. Kelsey was important… But so was Gotham, especially now when lives were at stake.

Giving her one last glance, Bruce quickly left the apartment, taking her key with him so he could lock the door. Once it was locked, he slipped it under the door and back into her apartment. She would find it come morning… or afternoon, depending on what time she got out of bed.

Letting out a small huff, Bruce rushed out of the apartment, unknowingly leaving Kelsey to dream about him for the first time in years.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Eh… Not my favorite chapter thus far, but kind of one of those chapter you need to write for character/story/plot/etc development. **

**I haven't written in the Batman fandom in forever and I'm kind of glad I'm writing in it again. I forgot how dark and demented everything is in it. Even Bruce himself has his own mental issues and it's just so exciting to work with such dark material again. That's why I liked the games so much – I felt that they really captured the creepy and gruesome truths of all the characters, including Batman himself.**

**Ah, the feels~ Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. :)**


	6. Chapter 6

Kelsey had woken up with a nasty headache that morning, but she knew that she had deserved it. She wasn't the strongest when it came to holding her alcohol and she had had a lot last night. Luckily, it took a few Advil tablets and some aspirin that morning to get over it. She was just glad that she wasn't vomiting or feeling nauseous.

Midafternoon, she had found her key on the floor. Oh. Bruce must have left it there. And if she hadn't have listened to the news that afternoon, she would have wondered where he had gone after he had been kind enough to escort her home.

No fatalities had been reported at the bank robbery committed last night, but many civilians had suffered injuries and some were in critical condition at the hospital. She could only guess that Batman had tipped off the authorities about the culprit behind this robbery, the Penguin. That man was certainly getting more and more active nowadays…

He had to have been plotting something, but she wasn't Batman, so there was no way that she could deduce what. She just hoped that the man would be all right…

Her house phone suddenly rang, causing her to wince a bit as her head pounded. Damn this migraine… Quickly, she rushed over to the phone and picked up as quickly as she could, wanting the ringing to end.

"Hello?" she said.

"_You don't sound hung-over, so I assume you're feeling all right." _

"You should have just texted me." She didn't mean to sound annoyed, but he should have known that she would have headache today after how much she drank. Maybe she should have just have unplugged her phone for the day; it wouldn't have been the first time she had done that.

She heard him laugh softly. _"I'm sorry, I just wanted to actually hear you say you were fine."_

Kelsey rubbed her eyes and grumbled to herself. Well, the gesture was rather sweet. It was just like Bruce to check up on her. He was always so considerate of her, always so caring and kind. She wondered why… Wait.

Right. She had forgotten. Bruce had confessed that he loved her last night. That was why he had was like this… Because he had feelings for her despite breaking up a long time ago. Damn it, now her headache was coming back. She couldn't stop herself from letting out a small groan, rubbing her temple.

"_Kelsey?"_

"Sorry, just have a bad headache."

"_Will you be all right?"_ he asked, concerned.

"Yeah, yeah… Just need some rest and some tea. I'll be fine come tomorrow morning."  
>And even if she wasn't, she would have to fight through it. After all, she had to work. But he was certain that she would be fine by then. Her headaches never last long.<p>

"_All right, I'll let you go then. Go get some rest."_

"Thanks. And Bruce?"

"_What?"_

"… Don't get yourself killed trying to catch Penguin, okay?"

There was a long pause before she heard Bruce huff. _"I see you saw the news."_

"Like I do every morning."

"_I'll be fine, Kelsey. You be careful too."_

"… I will." She wanted to tell him that she would be fine and wasn't in as much danger as he was, but she went against it. She didn't want to argue, especially with the headache she had. It would only make it worse, especially since Bruce would start to raise his voice and make the headache worse.

"_Good. Goodbye, Kelsey. I'll call you again."_

"… Bye, Bruce." Then she hung up and let out a heavy huff, rubbing her eyes as she moved to sit back down on the couch.

She didn't have time to deal with this. She needed to focus on her work and on how to help Croc this upcoming week. Her career was much more important than her weird developing love life or whatever was going on with Bruce at the moment. Besides, he wasn't asking her for an answer to those feelings. She didn't need to worry about them.

Kelsey moved to lie down and throw an arm over her face. But that was the issue. She couldn't get the confession off her mind. She had gotten over him. She had moved on from him, just like she had thought he had done the same. But no. He still loved her, he still wanted to be with her… He had never wanted to hurt her, but he had to leave her for a nobler cause. That hadn't changed his feelings either.

And that had made her heart face. Her cheeks had turned red. She had felt like she first had when he had told her that he loved her all those years ago. Like a young shy schoolgirl.

Was it simply because it had brought back memories? Or did she actually still have feelings for him? She had loved him so much back then… And even though she had gotten over him, it had taken a while to be completely over the break-up. First loves tended to do that, she supposed. And even when he had returned, she still cared deeply about him. He was still important to her.

Dear God. This would be on her mind for a while, even if it was the last thing she needed.

* * *

><p>It was Monday and work had unfortunately been incredibly slow before her interview with Croc. She wasn't scheduled to speak with him until five that evening, so for the most part, she was doing boring paperwork and looking over some of the test results she had done on the patient last week.<p>

And, as frustrating as it was, she was still thinking about what Bruce had told her. Every time she read the name "Batman" in a report, Bruce came to mind. She didn't want to think about him right now, especially not while she was trying to work. She was an adult and she was working – she was not a child and could not let her personal life interfere with her job. The patient always came first, not her love life.

Besides, the more she read these reports, the more she knew she had to push his feelings into the back of her mind. Being with Bruce just couldn't happen. Not anymore. Not when it could put a target on her back and put herself at an even greater risk. They had to remain friends… Nothing more than that.

She paused. Was that why he said she didn't have to answer to his feelings? That… seemed plausible. These inmates were after Batman and surely they would catch wind of her being around the Caped Crusader more often than not. That was what happened with Barbara. The Joker found out about the friendship between her and Batman and proceeded to shoot her in the spine, confiding her to use a wheelchair.

Barbara had just been a friend. Who knows what the Joker or any of the inmates would do to her if they believed her to be the Batman's lover?

She shook her head of such thoughts. No, it wouldn't come to that. She would not become Bruce's girlfriend again, so she had nothing to worry about.

There was a knock on the door, causing her to look up just as the door opened. She smiled. "Good afternoon, Sarah."

The redheaded woman smiled and moved to sit down across from her. "You seem to be working pretty hard there."

Kelsey chuckled, giving a small shrug as she looked at the papers on her desk. Being a new doctor was stuff and she only had one patient… She could only imagine the workload for someone like Sarah. Or even Gretchen, who really who her work cut out for her. Kelsey hoped that she would be able to handle it whenever Sharp decided she was ready to take on even more patients.

"Well, Croc is an interesting case, so I need to pay close attention," she said, giving a shrug. "What about you? You've been busy too."

"A little less now that Croc is in your hands."

She laughed. Sarah was definitely glad she didn't have to deal with him anymore, but she could understand. Kelsey still had scars from the bite Croc gave her. The only reason why Bruce didn't find out about them was because she had put make-up over them. She hoped he wouldn't find out either.

"Yes… He can be difficult."

"And yet you're still carrying on with his case."

"I should be safe today," Kelsey pointed out as she looked down at her work schedule for the week. "Since Sharp still wants him in isolation, I'll be going there to speak with him while he's restrained… Though I don't think he should be chained up the way he is."

"It's the only way to keep him restrained."

"But it's so… inhumane."

Sarah didn't say anything in reply, knowing that it was true. It wasn't like they had much of a choice though. Croc would break out and kill someone if they had him locked away in isolation any other way. Of course, keeping him chained up like that only made him more hostile towards them.

The more she thought it, the more she was glad that she was no longer in charge of Croc, even if her inexperienced friend was.

When she didn't get a reply, Kelsey let out a soft huff and looked down at her notes again. She hoped that he would be in a mood to talk. Croc was reported to get into dark mood sometimes and just wanted to be left alone. Then again, he had said that he had found her… amusing. And from what she understood, he had never called anyone other doctor before amusing. Unless perhaps they didn't record it.

"… Sarah?"

She looked up at the younger woman.

"Did… Croc ever tell you that he found you… amusing?"

Her eyes widened. Croc? Never. He had only said he had found her to be food and nothing more than one of his future meals. He hated her as much as he hated everyone else in the world. The only time he ever found her to be "amusing" was when she or anyone else was cowering back in fear at his presence. She knew that Kelsey wasn't asking about one-time instances though. So what brought on the question?

"No… Why do you ask?"

She hesitated for a moment and glanced down at her papers. Should she really ask about it? It didn't seem like much, but with these inmates, one could never be too careful. Besides, she worried that those words were potentially dangerous, life-threatening… Like when the Mad Hatter would "find his Alice." What if Croc decided that he wanted to bring his "amusing doctor" to his lair? She could never be too cautious.

Letting a heavy sigh, she rubbed her hands as she sat back in her seat. "Croc told me he found me… amusing."

"Amusing?" Sarah repeated, clearly not liking the sound of that.

Still, Kelsey nodded. "Yes… He said… that was the reason he wanted me as his doctor. That he didn't kill me in front of all of you. I suppose you could say he's keeping me around… as… entertainment…" Her voice trailed off when she saw the terrified look on her friend's face. "Sarah?"

But she didn't answer right away, a thousand things going through her mind at once. Amusing? Entertainment? Since when did Croc ever find anyone like that when they weren't afraid of him? He had to have been planning something. He must have wanted to do something to Kelsey… That had to have been it. Kelsey was in danger… Maybe much more than they realized it.

"Sarah?"

The older doctor snapped her head up and looked up at the other, who was looking at her with great concern. Oh… Maybe something was wrong. Maybe she should have told her this sooner or had reported it.

"Kelsey, you really need to stop working with Croc… I think this is becoming way too dangerous."

She had a feeling that Sarah would say something like that, but she could understand why. Hell, everyone was telling her this; it was almost like a broken record player going on over and over again. Then again, it wasn't as if these concerns weren't justified.

"I can't."

"Yes, you can. I can get Sharp and–"

She was already shaking her head, which made Sarah's face fall a bit. "We can't do anything about this… At least nothing that wouldn't cause Croc to grow upset or violent. We did this to keep him from hurting others, remember?"

Sarah slowly nodded. Damn it, Croc had their hands tied and he knew it! He knew he had the strength to kill anyone if he really willed himself to. Kelsey was stuck in this position and Croc would make her into some sort of toy for his own amusement. Just like the Joker did with Harley or like the Riddler did with everyone he came into contact with.

"Just…"

Kelsey blinked and looked up at the other.

"Be careful, okay?"

"I will. I promise."

* * *

><p>As scheduled, Kelsey went to Croc's isolation unit at five. And just as she suspected, he was still chained up and restrained. She didn't like seeing him this way. It seemed so barbaric and medieval and just… He was a man, not some sort of beast. Why did it seem like she was the only one who understood it?<p>

When she came into the cell, Croc looked up and smirked darkly. "I was wondering when you would show up."

"I apologize. I wasn't scheduled until today to speak with you."

He had to laugh at the apology. Why would she bother with meaningless apologies? It wouldn't change a damn thing and it certainly wouldn't get these damn restraints off of him either. "So… Another interview session, Doc? Gonna try and get into my head?"

She nodded. "Though the goal isn't to get into your head as much as is it to just get you talking."

What a bunch of bullshit. He knew she wanted to get inside his mind, to fuck him with him and try to "cure" him. As if she could fix how he was with a few simple, stupid words. Those others doctors couldn't do it and neither could she.

But he was curious to see how she would try.

"Fine then… Talk."

She let out a deep sigh and decided to get to work right away. She didn't think he was in the mood for formalities and such this time around. Besides, she had to keep him "entertained" or else she would need to worry about her own life and safety. Being all formal and such wouldn't keep him "entertained."

"Croc, I wanted to talk about something that I'm sure you've had to discuss before."

"Lemme guess… Why do I kill people?"

She nodded.

He laughed once and shook his head; it was anything but with humor. "What other reason was there aside from revenge?"

Revenge. She should have figured. But where did that need come from? Why did he want revenge in such a vile and grotesque? Mercilessly eating them alive? There had to be something more than just the generic umbrella under "revenge."

"So… Vengeance. Of what?"

His eyes narrowed at her, a growl rumbling in his throat. "The fuck are you talking about?"

Judging by his tone, Kelsey needed to phrase her next question very carefully. This was a touchy subject for the man, no doubt, considering how many people he probably had felt had "wronged" him that went beyond his criminal life and those who had cheated him. After all, his first kill was when he was still in the circus, not yet a hardcore and dangerous criminal of Gotham.

"Croc, I've read your file. You started your murders and attacks long before you came to Gotham. What drove you to do it?"

Croc went quiet for a moment as he looked down at himself. What drove him to it… What the fuck did she think? Wasn't she supposed to be a genius at this psycho shit? She knew how he looked. She knew how people treated him. They treated him like a monster, so he would act like a monster and make them suffer for what they all did to him, what they all thought of it.

Kelsey bit her bottom lip. Crap, had she overstepped her boundaries? Did she offend him or bring back traumatic memories? Great, now she made him hate her or something worse. She needed to make sure the man knew that she wasn't trying to hurt him, physically or mentally. She just wanted to help the inmate.

"Croc?" she said gently, stepping toward him. "Are you all–?"

His head suddenly jerked up, his eyes narrowed as he snarled like an animal. Her eyes widened and she jumped back in fright, not expecting the reaction. Oh indeed, she had pissed him off.

"Look at me," he growled. "Look at me – I'm a fucking _freak_! You wouldn't know what it's like… You're just a pretty little human woman, a fucking whore who's probably been like by everyone because you look good, because you look like a fucking human."

"Croc please." She had to get him to calm down. Damn it, she knew this would happen if he stayed in isolation for longer than necessary! Treating him like an animal only fueled his anger, only made him act more like a monster. This wasn't what she wanted for him and she had a feeling that deep inside of him, he didn't want to be like this either.

But what else could he do? This is how he had been all of his life. Abused and beaten to the point of no return, to where he embraced his monster-like appearance and acted as others expected. She couldn't let him remain in such a mindset. It would be his ultimate downfall, just like with all the other inmates here.

He had a point though. She didn't truly understand where he was coming from. Even though they were both human, she understood how judgmental people were. By society's standards and norms, she looked normal; Croc did not. Sadly in human nature to reject those that deviated from the norm, something she knew Croc experienced first hand all his life.

She let out a soft sigh and wrote some notes down on her clipboard before setting it onto the floor. It caught the inmate off guard, who eyed her suspiciously as she moved a bit closer to him. That… was different. The doctors always kept their notepads close by no matter what, always writing notes and trying to psychoanalyze everything he said or did.

"Croc."

He just looked to her.

"… You're right," she said honestly. "I don't understand what it's like to be ridiculed for my appearance. I've never had to suffer through injustices people have made against you, even though you have no control over your genetic mutation."

He couldn't respond to that. It… just wasn't the answer he was expecting. Sure, the other doctors had told him that it wasn't his fault for how he looked, but they never said they didn't understand. They all pretended that they did or that they could relate to it when they really had no fucking clue what it was like to live as him. They never would have been able to handle it.

Kelsey stood right in front of him, just out of arms reach. "But while I don't understand the torment you had gone through, I do understand that taking revenge never solves anything."

And then came to the generic therapist bullshit. Oh well, she had him going for a while there, so he had to give her a laugh there. "It sure as hell solves my hunger and my rage."

"… But it also makes your misanthropy grow too, doesn't it?"

He blinked.

Seeing that he was confused, she slowly continued and made sure to never look away from him. "Croc, you acting like a monster only drives you to hate humanity more. You're only making yourself worse. That is what I'm trying to get you to understand."

He rolled his eyes at that. He didn't need to understand anything. It didn't matter if he didn't act like this or not. He would still look the same and people would treat him the same. Maybe if he actually looked normal, he wouldn't be this way. But he didn't and he would never look normal. So what was the point?

She frowned when she saw him roll his eyes. Kelsey should have suspected that reaction, but it still didn't make it less frustrating. He probably thought she was just saying pretty words, even though that wasn't the case at all… But Croc was as stubborn as he was disturbed. She knew it would take a lot more to get through to him than other patients.

"Croc, even if you looked like me, you would still be the same."

"Excuse me?"

"Even if I were to somehow find a way to make you look normal, you wouldn't change just like that," she said, snapping her fingers to indicate her point. "Yes… You became the way you are because of how you were treated due to your appearance. But your hatred for humanity won't go away just because you look different. Neither will your desire to kill and murder others… or desire to turn them into a meal."

Croc growled to himself. Yes. That was probably true. He enjoyed his work. He liked having his revenge on all those fucking bastards… Besides, he still had to kill Batman as well. And once he did, he would feast about his corpse, ridding himself of that nuisance once and for all. Then he would be free to do what he wanted, just like before Batman had come to Gotham.

Something soft and small touched his forehead, which nearly made him jump back as he snapped down to look at his doctor, who had touched his head.

"The fuck are you-?!"

"Your issues are here, Croc… Not what you look like. Because as I said before, you're not a monster… And I will never think of you as one either."

Croc just stared at the woman, not even realizing that she had taken her hand away from him. She… was insane. Just as crazy as he was. How could she not think of him as a monster? Especially after what he had done to her. And she had clearly read his file. Just what the fuck did he had to do to get her to think of him like everyone else did?!

"… Croc, I would like to ask you something."

He blinked as his thoughts were interrupted, only to see that she had turned away to retrieve her clipboard again.

"When did it start?"

"When did what start?"

"The urge to eat someone. What caused it?"

The fuck if he knew or even remembered. It had been so long ago… He just remembered it starting up when he was circus freak, right before he had been fired from the job as a crocodile wrestler. When all those attendees would cheer for him… Only to laugh and ridicule him when everything was over and done for.

All he could remember was wanting to make them all pay. Make all of them suffer. To feel the anguish and torment they would constantly cause him whenever they laughed, ridiculed, or throw things at him.

And when he had gotten his revenge on that one woman, his very first victim… His senses were alive and wild. She was had been screaming, been bleeding and trying to get away. Just like when a predator had caught his prey and was ready to make the kill. The smell had been so much, too much… And it had been so damn delicious and intoxicating that he took his first bite, his first human meal.

It had been a great first kill.

He chuckled darkly at the memory. "Did you ever read about my first victim?"

"… You're referring to the woman at the carnival."

"Yeah, that bitch. It was then."

She nodded slowly, remembering the horrors of that report. She didn't know how it happened, but she only knew that a twenty-three year-old woman named Summer Jenkins had somehow ended up in Croc's been, where he sexually assaulted her before finally eating her. Her corpse was hardly recognizable by the time police found her body.

"What made you do it?"

"It was her own fucking fault," Croc snarled, eyes narrowing at the memory. "That bitch and her friends… Treated me like an animal. Insulted me. I wanted to make them suffer… And then that woman came by my cage. Alone. Without her boyfriend or friends."

"So you took your chance then."

"You damn right I did. Bitch resisted, but it was just too easy… Pinning her down, making her scream and cry and plead… I got her to say sorry so many times, it was almost funny since she realized just how much she had fucked up by messing with me."

A shiver went down Kelsey's spine as a nauseous feeling pooled her in stomach. He… looked so pleased with himself. As if he had done something to be proud of, even though it was vile and disgusting act. She narrowed her eyes at him and firmly stated, "That's disgusting."

"The bitch deserved it."

"No. She didn't. It wasn't right how she treated you, but you had no right to do that."

"_No right?!_" he shouted, causing Kelsey to flinch back a bit at the anger and volume of his cry. She could see him pulling at his chains, as if trying to get close to her so that his face could be right up in hers. She was glad to see that the chains were strong enough to keep that from happening. "That little whore called me an animal, so I fucking gave her the animal! I fucked her like an animal and I ate her like one! That was what she wanted! That was what she demanded from me!"

Kelsey just stared at him with a blank expression, even though her heart was racing a mile a minute. She decided to not say anything to let him calm down for a few moments. The first kill was usually something that would get any inmate's emotions excited. She didn't need him to turn violent because of it.

Croc panted hard, his head starting to pound. Shit, he always got like this whenever he thought or talked about that incident… but he couldn't help it. It was the beginning of practically everything. When he had finished, he just couldn't describe it. For once, he had actually felt… satisfied. Accomplished. Like he had finally gotten back at those who mocked him for all his life.

And from then on, he only wanted more.

Seeing that he had quieted down, Kelsey took a deep breath before starting up again. "You acted like an animal because she had said you were one… Is basically what I'm getting here."

He huffed. "When you're treated like a monster all your life, it's only fair to give you humans what you want and act like one."

"I don't agree."

"Figures as much."

Before she could ask anything else, there was a knock on the door, causing both of them to turn as it opened. Cash and two other guards were standing there, the two keeping their guns pointed at Croc.

"Cash?"

"Time's up, Lunar. Time to go."

It had been an hour already? It certainly didn't seem like it had been that long… There was still so much she wanted to ask, so much she wanted to know and understand. Sadly though, it seemed as if she would have to wait until next week for another interview. Or maybe sooner, depending if Sharp or Gretchen felt like she needed to speak with him twice a week instead of once a week.

"All right then." She turned to Croc. "Thank you for your time today, Croc. I'll be back to see you next week. By then you should be moved back to your cell."

"Not gonna keep me locked up in here?"

She shook her head. "I don't like how they chain you up here… So long as you're under my care, I won't treat you like an animal. Ever."

He said nothing, just kept his eyes narrowed at her as she walked out with the door closing and locking behind her and the three guards. Once she was gone, he huffed and sat back against the wall, taking a heavy and deep breath in order to calm himself down and actually think for a moment.

Fuck, that woman… She was just too damn interesting for her own good. Maybe she was the one with a mental issue. He wouldn't be too surprised. That Harley bitch had been one of them before the Joker changed her. Kelsey was probably just one slip away from being just like one of them.

And Croc couldn't wait to find out what came next.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Don't worry guys, it won't just be constant interview sessions. In fact, I have something else in mind for the next chapter, lol. Action~ But you'll have to wait to see what I mean. ;)**


	7. Chapter 7

It had been nearly four months since she had been assigned as Croc's doctor. So far, things were actually going rather smoothly with Croc, which prompt Sharp to have her talking to him twice a week instead of once. She was certain progress was being made, but it was rather slow and tedious. But the patient actually seemed to want to talk to her, unless of course she had angered, which happened more than a few times.

Aside from those times though, Croc was… an okay patient. He still enjoyed intimidating her and still didn't think that they were the same, but she certainly didn't mind working with him. Especially since they seemed to have such a neutral, respectable relationship. It wasn't much really, but it was better than nothing, that was for certain. Sometimes, maybe due to boredom, he would ask questions about her and she would politely answer them.

She made sure not to give too much away though. While their relationship seemed to be one of mutual respect, she knew that she was dealing with a mad Arkham inmate. She never told him where she lived or much about the area that surrounded her, only mentioning that she lived in an apartment. The last thing she wanted was for him to sneak in and murder her. God, Zsasz had almost done that to Sarah…

But she did kindly tell him where she went to school and why she wanted to become a therapist here at Arkham and the like such as that. He thought her to be insane, but he seemed to enjoy making fun of her, so whatever kept him happy and entertained was fine by her. As long as it meant that she was safe.

Unfortunately, Bruce found out about her work schedule with some help from Barbara… Or rather, Oracle, who had helped him bring Black Mask back to Arkham one night. Needless to say, the man had been furious to know and even more upset that she had kept it from him. He believed her to be great danger and had wanted her to quit right away, which of course led to a rather long and vocal argument.

Currently, she was at the bank to make some deposits. She was still thinking about that fight she had with Bruce… To be fair, his concern wasn't justified, so she couldn't be angry with that. But what she did at work wasn't any of his business and he had no right to tell her to quit. He was her friend, not her keeper, even if he did have feelings for her.

She gripped her purse tightly. While it hadn't been as distracting as it had been initially, his feelings still crept up into her mind every once in a while. And whenever they did, her chest would tighten up and her heart would race a little. Knowing how he felt did make her… a little happy, if not stressed at times. She couldn't respond to them, even though she knew it was best to reject him. They just could not be together. It was too dangerous and she didn't think she could accept all of him as he was.

But even so, she couldn't bring herself to tell him no. To say that she did not love him like that. It was as if something was stopping, some internal force within her heart telling her not to do it, even though it was for the better. And she had a feeling she knew why too, even though she tried to deny it as much as possible. It just couldn't be true… She couldn't let it be true, no matter what.

There was a loud revving noise coming from her right. She had thought that she had been hearing things, but when she turned to look, she could see other people had done the same. Suddenly, two bright lights flashed at one of the windows and they just seemed to get closer and closer and closer until-

Oh God… A robbery.

Once the armored car smashed through the window, Kelsey heard screaming all around, people jumping out of the way. She was pretty sure she had done the same, but everything was such a blur for a moment that she didn't even notice how she had gone from standing to being on the floor and pressed up against the far back wall.

She was panting hard, her heart racing as her eyes locked on the black car. The back doors were kicked open, causing more people to scream. Seven very bulked up, tall, and armed masked men with what she believed to be AK-47s came rushing out of the back, barking orders and yelling at the citizens in the bank. Kelsey couldn't make out what they were saying, frozen stiff as everything around her was chaos.

A hand suddenly clamped over her arm, making her gasp and look up, seeing that it was one of the men. "Get up!" he shouted.

She didn't even have a chance to react as he suddenly yanked her to her feet and forced her to walk over to where they were gathering up all the citizens. They were all making them gather in a single area, their hands behind their heads as they sat on her knees. Hostages. They were all going to be hostages to make sure the police or even Batman didn't come in and stop them from getting what they wanted.

"Get over there."

Kelsey grunted as she was suddenly shoved to the floor, but did nothing but quickly assumed the same position everyone else had. Her heart was racing as her senses went on high alert, glancing around the room. No escape, all exits were blocked off, and she and the others were surrounded by three of the men. The two of the men were threatening the employees while the others were attempting to break into the safe.

She glanced at some of the other hostages. One woman was crying to herself while two men were whispering to each other fearfully. But everyone was else was like her. Frozen in terror, unable to move, and merely glancing at everyone's face as they all prayed they wouldn't get killed.

"Give him the fucking combination!"

Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see one of the men threatening what she could only guess was the bank manager at gunpoint. Oh no… He was resisting them. Didn't he care that not only his life was at stake but all of these other people?!

"If you don't hand it over, we'll kill the hostages! The longer you make us wait, the more of them die!"

"B-But I can't-!"

"You think we're fucking around, old man?!"

Then the man snapped his fingers, the man at Kelsey's left turning to face them. She felt her body turn cold when she saw that the barrel of his gun was pointed in her direction. No… No, oh God, please no! She shut her eyes tightly, hoping that the pain would be quick so at least she wouldn't have to suffer.

She heard the gunshot and she felt something wet splatter on across the left side of her face, but there was no pain. She heard people screaming in horror and fright, the one woman from before now crying even harder. It took her a few moments to realize that she wasn't dead… Which meant the blood that was on her wasn't hers.

She slowly opened her eyes, only to wish she hadn't. A man who had been next to her was now lying back on the floor, half of his face blown off from the shot. A wave of nauseous came over her and she felt ready to vomit. But she forced herself to turn away and shut her eyes, praying that this would just end soon.

She could hear the man yelling at the manager again, who now seemed more than willing to give them the code now. That damn fool… Letting an innocent man die because he just wouldn't… But she knew that there was no use mourning about it now. The man next to her was dead and even though these armored men would be getting what they wanted, she knew they were going to kill them all anyway. Men like these never left anyone alive behind.

"Hurry up!"

The manager seemed to cry out in fear as he quickly opened up the safe to allow the four men inside. She swallowed when she heard hurried footsteps before the sounds of bags of what she could only guess was money being thrown into the truck.

"Ain't you worried about the cops?"

"Nah, they ain't coming in here." She stiffened when she could feel someone standing behind her, eyes shooting open in terror when the gun tapped against the back of her head. "Not as long as we got them."

"What about the-?"

"Hey! Penguin said we ain't got nothing to worry about, so shut it already, would you?"

Kelsey forced herself to remain quiet, even though she wanted to let out a breath of relief when he pulled the gun away. But still, he brought up something that she hadn't really thought about before. The Penguin had been sending his men out and about a lot more recently. At least according to the news. Could he have been plotting something? She didn't doubt it.

But what could it have been though? That was what was troubling her. Unlike other Arkham inmates, the Penguin was less of a madman and more of what she would call a kingpin. A very damn good one at that, being able to evade the law more often than not. Unless Batman caught him, which probably happened more than the Englishman would have liked.

"You've got it all?"

"Still got a few more bags."

"All right…" One of the guards turned to the hostages, making two of the others turn around to face them as well. "Let's take care of the trash."

Kelsey felt the color drain from her face as cries and pleads arose from the group, obviously understanding what these men meant. Oh no. She had been right. They were going to kill them despite getting what they wanted!

But that was never to happen. Clouds of thick black smoke suddenly blocked and disturbed her vision, more of the hostages shrieking in fright. The criminals were now starting to shout, panicked and on high alert. Some of the hostages who were closest to the door took it as an opportunity to escape, screaming as they ran out the building.

With her ears ringing with screams and shout, her eyes starting to water from the smoke, she could hear what she could only assume with hard punches and kicks come from behind her. Of course – why didn't she realize it sooner?

Kelsey finally snapped out of it and realized that she needed to do the same before she ended up dead like the man next to her.

Scrambling to her feet, she attempted to run for the exit. But one of them men started shooting wildly, trying to hit their assailant. She shrieked and dropped to the ground again, covering her head and body. Oh God, she had to get out of here or else this guy would kill her on accident! But she couldn't bring herself to even crawl away, terrified the man might shoot at whatever he saw moving.

There was a shout and then a thud, causing even more terror to seep into her stomach. What was that? Who had fallen? Was someone else dead?

A hand suddenly took a hold of her and yanked her off the ground. She screamed, only to be brought face to face with Batman, who had wrapped an arm around her and pulled her to his chest.

"B-Bruce…?"

He didn't say anything, but instead, brought out the Batclaw and pointed it upwards. Her eyes widened and she quickly took a hold of him as he shot it up into the air, grabbing a hold of a pillar from above. She grabbed him tightly as she was suddenly lifted up into the air, his arm wrapped tightly around her to keep her against him.

Once they reached the beam, he swung over and set her down on the ground on the third floor. "Stay here," he ordered as he moved back over to the ledge.

"W-Wait-!"

But the man didn't listen, jumping back down to onto the first floor. She ran to look over the edge, inspecting the scene before. Most of the smoke had cleared out now and while half of the hostages had escaped, the rest of them were cowering in the corners and trying to keep themselves as far away from the remaining thugs. Three of the armored men were down and unconscious, Batman now focusing on the four still up, their guns having been knocked out of their hands and out of reach.

Her hands clenched against the railings as she saw the three thugs surrounded him, terrified of what could happen. She knew he could handle himself. He had fought on way more men at once before. But still… She worried. He could get hurt. He could die if one of them was able to grab their fallen guns.

One man came running at him from behind and Kelsey nearly screamed at him, but his arm went up and slammed right into the other's face. The thug grunted and stumbled back in pain, allowing one of the others to try and take a swing at him. It proved to be useless though as Batman was quicker, punching him hard in the stomach before delivering several more hits to his skull.

It was… almost hypnotic to watch. She had only seen him fight once before, the night he had saved her from those gangsters. The though, she hadn't been paying any attention, cowering behind a dumpster and keeping herself hidden as she prayed she wouldn't die that night. But now? She was far from the danger and had a bird's eye view of the action.

It was almost sad as these punks tried to fight him. They were no match for his skill or strength, only being able to land a hit or two at most. It didn't take long for Batman to subdue them, the last man's head being slammed onto the floor and knocking him out cold. And just as Batman stood up straight, the police rushed inside, Gordon right in front.

She ducked behind the railing and reached up to grip her chest tightly. Dear God… She was actually still alive. Her heart was still pounding and her hands were still shaking. Christ, she thought she would have died. She should have died, everything considered. But no. She had gotten incredibly lucky this time with Batman actually showing up on time. Trying to calm down her heart, Kelsey hoped that she would never have to cut anything ever that close again.

"Are you all right?"

She nearly jumped out of her skin and fell back on her butt, staring up at Batman who had suddenly appeared by her side. Damn it, she hated how he did that! Just popping out of nowhere like that… It was like he was trying to give her a heart attack.

But she shook it off and nodded, allowing Batman to help her to her feet.

"Wh-What about you?" she said, stepping towards him to touch his cheek. He had a small cut on it, no doubt from one of the hits he had taken. "Are you-?"

"I'm fine."

She slowly nodded, taking a deep breath as she was finally able to calm herself down. All seemed well now, thank God… She seriously just wanted to go home now and get some rest. She had had enough excitement for one day, that was for sure. And since tomorrow was Saturday, she would definitely be staying in and relaxing for a little bit.

Kelsey looked back up at him and smiled. "Thank you… for saving me."

He didn't say anything, his eyes just narrowed at her.

It made her grow concerned. Had she said something wrong? Did he not want her to thank him? Oh wait… He was probably still angry with her. She had completely forgotten about that, but to her defense, that had been the last thing on her mind since she was a hostage. Still, they hadn't exactly "made up" from their fight yet. But she didn't think Bruce would be mad about that still… Right?

The chance to ask never came though. His arms shot out and came around her, pulling her into his chest as he hugged her tightly. His hand cupped the back of her head while his other hand gripped her back tightly, his head dropping to her shoulder. She froze, eyes widening when she realized the exact position that they were in. Why was he-?!

"Br-B-Batman?"

"I'm glad you're all right."

No… No, this wasn't Batman. This was Bruce. The concern, the worry in his voice was Bruce, the man who had said that he cared about her, that he worried about her, that he loved her… Her cheeks darkened, but she couldn't bring herself to move. She couldn't hug back, she couldn't give him the wrong idea. Damn, did she want to hug back though… but she forced her arms to hang by her sides.

"I-It's okay… I'm fine… I promise."

His hold on her tightened as relief came over him. Damn it, he was almost too late… He had been too late to save the man next to her. If he had come any later, many more, including the woman in his arms, would have died too. He couldn't let this happen again.

He wouldn't let it happen again.

* * *

><p>"Again?!"<p>

The man only winced at the volume of the much short's man hiss, but gave a nod. He wasn't surprised though, knowing his boss would be pissed with the fact that the Bat had foiled yet another robbery. Still, when the Penguin got mad, shit… The last thing he wanted was for the man to grab his umbrella and use it on him. The guy usually became trigger-happy when he was angered.

Penguin snarled and slammed his fist down on his desk. Damn Bat… Always ruining his plans for his own ego hero-trip. A load of bollox. Losing more men and money and time because of this!

"Caddie!"

The voluptuous, young blonde and provocatively dressed secretary slowly stood up, holding up a metal, old looking staff. The man paled at the sight of his, recognizing the taser his boss had built himself. She walked past him, the woman giving him a wink and a dark giggle, before moving over to the Penguin's side and handing him the umbrella.

"Now…" He slowly moved away from his desk and towards the man. "This was your team, right? You should have been quicker, shouldn't you been?"

"Th-The bank manager-!"

"You know I don't like wasting my time with worthless lackeys." He pressed a button at the end of it, the tip of the stick sparking up as it winded up. "So unless you've got something useless for me… I think it be best if we… _terminated_ your contact. What you think, Caddie?"

The woman giggled again as she sat on his desk and crossed her legs. "I think useless people aren't good for business."

"I think you're right about that."

The man knew he had to start talking fast. Shit, he knew had he fucked up, but it wasn't all lost! He had gotten something! Something that would not only save the Penguin's plans from going under, but also save his own ass.

"W-Wait! I-I got something better!"

The Penguin wasn't amused though and stalked toward the man, who was now backing up as he desperately tried to reach into his pocket to pull out his phone. Better? Better?! What the bloody hell could have been better and more useful to him than money at this point? Unless the man was gonna pull gold out of his pants, he wasn't interested.

"Nice working with you, boy."

"Wait-Wait a minute!" The man, who had fallen onto his back, was now holding up his cellphone with a shaky hand, sticking it right in front of his boss. "J-Just take a look!"

He stopped, only because the thing had been shoved right in his face. But it was too close to his eyes, making him unable to see the picture properly as it was all distorted and fuzzy. However, he could make out the Bat's image, which was enough to make him pull back his staff and snatch the phone out of his hand.

"The bloody hell-?"

"I-I got it just before I snuck out… I-I know it's not much, but-!"

"Shut it." He moved his fingers over the phone and zoomed in on it. He was about to demand to know what was so great about this crap photo, but then he saw it. The Bat was hunched over and his arms were wrapped around… a woman. Some little woman with burgundy hair.

A small smile curled up on his face as he started to chuckle darkly. "Well, well, well, what we got here? Didn't realize the Bat had such a pretty girl…"

"Y-Yeah, I-I saw them and took a quick shot of them… She's gotta be his girlfriend."

Penguin turned away from him, shutting off his staff as he walked back over to his desk. His employee nearly collapsed in relief, but instead just quickly stood up. At least it didn't seem like he would be dying anytime soon… Shit, he had gotten lucky with that photo.

"You remember what the lass looked like from the front?"

"Uh…" When his boss looked back at him with narrowed eyes, he quickly tired to remember the faces of the hostages in the bank. Thank God her hair color was different from everyone else; remembering her face was a hell of a lot easier, though it was still a little fuzzy. "Uh, well, she looked pretty young, probably mid twenties or something… Uh, light brown eyes? A-And glasses! Yeah, she had glasses on…"

The Penguin nodded and turned away from him again. Well, not much to go on, but it sure as hell was a start. Luckily, in his line of work, tracking down someone wouldn't be that hard at all. Just needed to hire the right people.

"Caddie." He handed her the phone. "See if you can get that spy we got last time. Satisfactory work, she did before."

Caddie nodded and headed out the room, leaving the Penguin to turn back to the only other man in the room. He chuckled and shook his head, sitting back down in his chair. "I think you redeemed yourself there nicely… Don't think it'll happen again."

Oh thank God, he wasn't about to be murdered. Or worse. He knew what the Penguin did to those who either betrayed him or who he felt like was useless to him. He did not want to end up mutilated like them… He would rather be sent back to Arkham than have to deal with the torture Penguin dished out.

"N-No… No, sir. It won't happen again."

"Good. Now get out before I throw you out."

The man couldn't leave fast enough, but Penguin paid no mind to it as he leaned back in his seat. So… his old nemesis had a missus. How unexpected. The bastard was poor company, so to think there was a girl out there for him… Must have been some crazy little bitch who liked thrills and danger.

Oh well, he would find out soon enough… And he certainly could not wait until the day they met. He certainly had plenty of questions to ask her… And would have plenty of leverage against Batman in case he wanted to try anything else stupid to foil his plans. He should have kept the doll a secret.

Once he had her, there was nothing stopping him now.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: WELL... Even though I feel like I've improved over the years, action scenes are still the devil and I weep at my inability to write them properly. ;3; Seriously, I need so much help with actions scenes it's not even funny. Just... *weakarmflails***

**ANYWAY, this is actually my first time writing the Penguin. He's very different in the Arkham universe, being a lot of more grungy and much more of a foul man than being the "classy criminal" he tends to be in other verses. SO! I'll do my best to keep the ol' bloke in character as he in the in Arkham universe, since you'll be seeing more of him.**

**After all, I did say a lot of things would be changing~~~ :3**


	8. Chapter 8

Kelsey hadn't heard from Bruce since that Friday night at the bank; it was now Tuesday night She knew the man had other things to attend to, but she couldn't help but to worry. Was he having trouble with Penguin? Or had it been someone else that had organized the robbery? She did know that there were still some other criminals running around he had to deal with.

She was sitting on her couch, watching some Netflix from her laptop since she had nothing else to do for the evening. But even as she was trying to distract herself with the new episode of _Orange is the New Black_, she just couldn't shake off the events of Friday night. Especially not with how he had acted.

He held her so tightly. So close to his chest that she was certain that if he wasn't wearing his suit, she would have felt his heart beating. And even when he had brought her home, it was like he didn't want to let go. It could have very well been him have flashbacks to when he lost his parents. He could have lost her too and he would have blamed him too… Considering it was Bruce, she had deduced that it may have been a combination of that and his… love for her.

Biting her bottom lip, she hugged herself tightly as she leaned back into the couch. God, the hug had been so tight… It reminded her of when they were younger. When they were in love. She suddenly like twenty again, which was slightly frustrating. She was an independent adult, not a college student. The only things she needed to focus on now were her work and possible future, not some old flame that hadn't died as she had once thought.

Damn it, now she was just getting herself all wound up when she should have been taking a break and relaxing. She had told herself to stop thinking about it already, that it wasn't important, that she couldn't get involved with him. Even if she may have had feelings for him, which she suspected she might have had if she considered her behavior and how her mind acted up at the thought of the man.

If there was one thing she hated about being a psychologist, it was her ability to diagnose herself and her own feelings.

That was beside the point though. She just needed to not think of him or what had happened anymore. It was in the past and she had not given him any reason to think that she had feelings for him as well. She was glad that she had kept her hands at her sides during that hug, even though she wanted to hug back.

There was a knock at the door, much to her surprise. Who would be here at this time? A bit cautiously and suspiciously, she paused her show and got up to answer the door. Considering her job and the city she lived in, Kelsey knew she could never be too careful.

Much to her relief though, it was a policewoman. The woman was only a little taller than her, her badge reading Ramirez, who had her black hair tied up with her bright brown eyes locked on her. From the look on her face, Kelsey could tell that she meant business and that she had some questions.

"Good evening," the woman said, bringing up a notepad.

Wow, she certainly had a pretty voice; seductive sounding, almost. But Kelsey shook her mind of such thoughts, knowing that she shouldn't have been focusing on that all. She nodded back to her as she relaxed a bit. "Can I help you, officer?"

"Me and my partner have been sent to just get some names on the hostages in the last bank robbery."

"Oh. Do you need to come in?"

She shook her head. "Just need some identification and whatnot. Our systems only have so much data and since you're not a criminal, I doubt you'd be in there."

Kelsey slowly nodded. That made sense, she supposed. She really had no idea how the police department worked or functioned when it came to their databases and such, but since it wasn't her forte and didn't have anything to do with her job, she didn't need to know.

"Just gotta get a picture and some basic security questions."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, like where you work, your contact information, basic info – think of it like a job application." She handed her the pad. "I have the questions written down already, so you just need to write your answers. Let me get a pic first."

This seemed… strange. Very out of place. But she didn't question it, allowing the woman to pull out a camera and get a picture of her. Then she started writing her answers on the pad that was given to her.

"What's this for exactly?"

"… There was a threat made against the hostages by one of the men captured. Gordon doesn't want us to take any chances. Guess you could say we've already taken enough."

Oh all right, that made much more sense… But it also worried her a bit, making her write down probably more than she needed to. She could never be too safe or sure there, even if she had Batman on her side during all of this. She just hoped that whoever was behind all this would be caught and she wouldn't have to worry anymore. For now anyway.

She handed her back the notepad. "Do you need anything else?"

The woman looked over the bad before shaking her head. "Thank you for your cooperation, Miss Lunar. You have a nice evening."

And before Kelsey could reply, the woman had already taken off for the elevator. Poor woman; she and her partner must have been busy as hell tonight, especially considering how many civilians had been at the bank on Friday.

But just as she was about to close her apartment door, she heard more footsteps heading down the hall. Out of curiosity, she looked up to get a peek at who it could have been. She would have guessed Sarah, since she knew that the woman had to work late that night.

But she never would have guessed it would have been Bruce.

Her mouth fell slightly agape when their eyes met. Bruce? But what was he doing here? While she didn't exactly know what his schedule was like, she had thought that perhaps the man would have been scouting the city or at least wait at home to see if Gordon turned on the Batman signal or just being somewhere other than here. He usually called before he came.

She opened the door again and stepped out into the hallway, still holding onto the knob. "Bruce?"

He nodded to her as he stepped in front of her.

"Wh-What're you doing here?"

"I want to check up on you. I'm sorry for coming over unannounced."

"O-Oh, um, no… It's fine, I wasn't doing anything anyway…" She glanced back into her apartment. She was glad she had decided to clean it up on Sunday or else she probably wouldn't have even thought of letting him inside. "You… want to come in?"

"If that's all right."

"It's fine." She let him into her apartment and closed the door behind them, locking it in place. "Uh, would you like anything to drink?"

He shook his head.

_Okay, now what?_ Kelsey thought as the man took a seat on her couch. She just stood there for a few moments, unsure of what to do or say. But when Bruce looked to her, she knew it was best to at the very least move and not just stared at him like an idiot.

An awkward feeling came over her as she walked back into her living room and sat back next to him. She didn't know what to say or what to even talk about. Ironic, she found it, considering it was her job to talk to people to begin with. But she discussed their issues with her patients; she didn't have feelings for them or they for her, so they didn't need to have any awkward moments. It didn't help that Bruce wasn't saying anything either.

Not knowing what else to do, she took a deep breath and leaned back against the couch. "So what brings you here?" She had to make conversation somehow and at least this way she could get some questions answered.

"I just wanted to make sure that you were all right."

"Oh." She paused for a moment. "Well, I'm fine. A little worried though."

"Did something happen at work?"

"What-Oh, no. No." She should have figured that would have been the first thing the man would have said, considering how much he hated her job. "No, a policewoman came by just now. She and her partner are getting details on the hostages."

Bruce seemed just as confused as she had first been when the policewoman had told he that. "Why?"

"One of the men taken down made a threat. I guess Gordon isn't taking any chances."

Bruce said nothing, his expression turning solemn as he started to think. That didn't sound right. Gordon would have mentioned something like that to him. And even if they had made a threat, the attack on the bank was completely random and there was no way of those regular grunts knowing any of the hostages' identities unless identification was stolen from them. And from he understood, that wasn't the case.

He didn't like how this sounded. Something was wrong and once he left, he would find out if what Kelsey said was true or not. It seemed far too suspicious to just dismiss or ignore.

"What was the officer's name?"

"What?"

"The officer that came to talk to you. What was their name?"

"Uh, I didn't get a first name, but her last name was Ramirez."

He nodded. A last name was enough for him and a quick look through the GCPD's active employee files would be able to give him the answer he needed. While he wanted it to be nothing, he knew never to hope for something outside of crime activity. Even if it did involve the police.

He looked over the woman, who was looking down at her hands that were folded in her lap. She was squirming a bit, trying to find a more comfortable position for herself. He knew he was most likely the cause of it, even though it wasn't his attention to make her feel awkward. He had just wanted to check up on her, especially after that scare.

His hand balled up into a fist before he quickly released it. He had already lost his parents. So many people had already gotten hurt or even died because of him and his actions, his failures. Barbara had lost the use of her legs because of him. He couldn't stand it if Kelsey was also hurt because of him. Or worse.

"Do you want me to leave?"

"Eh?"

"Should I leave?" he asked, turning to her. "If I'm making you uncomfortable, I can leave."

"I…" Kelsey didn't know what to say. It wasn't that she was uncomfortable. She was just… awkward. She didn't know what to do or how to act or anything! It was her own inner turmoil that was making her act this way. It was nothing on Bruce's part.

"N-No… No, Bruce, it's not you. I've just been stressed lately."

He didn't believe her, but he didn't want to push her either, giving her a single nod. Even if she was telling the truth though, he knew that it was best for him to leave. She needed space and him being there was doing nothing for her mental state. Maybe he should have waited to check on her, to give her some more time.

"Still. I should leave."

"O-Oh… I-If that's what you… want." Great, now she felt bad like she was doing something wrong and kicking him out when he had only wanted to see if she was doing well. It wasn't as if he was doing anything wrong.

As the man stood up, she quickly followed him to the door. She tried to think of something, anything to say at all. But she could think of nothing to say, not even a weak and pathetic apology. She felt horrible, but she just couldn't find the words.

Still, she had to do something.

Just as he opened the door and stepped outside, she grabbed his hand. He blinked and turned to her. "Kelsey?"

Kelsey looked down to where their hands were joined. Crap, why did she do that? She shouldn't have done that! But she had just reached out and… grabbed his hand. And now her heart was racing as her cheeks flushed, forcing her to cough and releasing his hand. How she just wanted to run to bed and burying her face into the pillows…

"I-I'm sorry…" she muttered out weakly, keeping her head down. "I… I'll see you late–"

She never had a chance to finish her sentence. He grabbed her hand again and pulled her against his chest, making her cry out in shock. But he quickly shut her up with a kiss, holding her tight against his body with their lips pressed together. Kelsey couldn't move, frozen in shock with her hands twitching. But Bruce didn't let her go, wrapping his arms tightly around her to deep the kiss.

Her mind was in shambles at this point. She needed to stop this. She needed to push him away. They couldn't do this again, they had already ended, it was too dangerous to get involved with him… No, no, no, this had to stop now. But that was the thing – she didn't want it to. She couldn't bring herself to push him away. She didn't want to push him away.

So she didn't. Instead, she slowly stretched up her hands to grip his back tightly and closed her eyes, kissing back as hard as he was. She didn't even fight him when his tongue slipped into her mouth, wrestling with hers. Her mind felt fuzzy and her legs felt heavy, heart racing hard as they continued to kiss passionately in her doorway.

If it weren't for her nearly slipping when she moved her foot back, who knows how far the kiss would have gone?

Bruce kept her up when their kiss broke, both of them staring at each other and panting hard. Kelsey's face was bright red, trembling a bit as she held onto him. Oh God… what had she done?

But the man didn't say anything. He just gave a soft smile and gently pushed her back into her apartment. "I'll see you next time, Kelsey."

She couldn't even respond, just staring at him with wide eyes and red cheeks as she stood frozen in her apartment, the door closing behind the man. Even minutes after he had left, she couldn't move and just stood their, a thousand thoughts rushing through her mind as she realized what had just happened, what she had just done.

God… She was a complete and utter moron. She ended up not only enjoying the kiss, but actually kissed him back! Just how stupid was she?!

She could only pray that this wouldn't lead to total hell later.

* * *

><p>Caddie came into the room with clipboard in hand. Apparently, the spy her boss had hired had finally showed up with what he had asked for a while ago. She was glad too – he always got grouchy and impatient if he didn't get what he wanted right away. And he had been starting to get restless today…<p>

Ah well. The spy delivered and spared her from the angry rants the man started to give.

She looked over to a very curvaceous woman lounging on one of the couches, smoking a cigarette absentmindedly. Tight black leather jacket and pants with high black pumps, hair long and flowing and all over the place with a manila folder in hand. Not many would have thought this woman was a capable spy and talented fighter, but from her boss would tell her, the lady packed a punch. And had a smart mouth to boot, the clever bitch. She hated this woman, always thinking she was better than everybody else. Luckily, the spy did her job quickly, so she never had deal with her for long periods of time.

"Mister Cobblepot will see you now, if you'd follow me now."

She looked up, dark chocolate eyes locking with her green ones. Caddie just watched for a moment, eyes narrowed before the spy laughed and pushed off the couch, pressing the butt of her cigarette into an ashtray off to the side.

"The man was begging for this envelope and then he decides to keep a lady waiting. Not too charming of a guy, is he?"

Caddie said nothing as she turned around and walked toward Penguin's office. She heard the woman laugh behind her, but she remained silent, their heels clicking against the floor as they made their way to the large doors to the man's office.

She knocked twice. "Mister Cobblepot, your spy is here."

It only took a few moments before the doors buzzed open, Caddie pushing it open to walk inside. The woman behind her had no problems moving right past her to walk further into the room towards her client's desk.

She held up the folder. "It was a damn pain in my ass, but I got what you ordered."

Penguin, who had been sitting in his chair the entire time, smiled brightly at folder. He stood up and walked out of his chair, walking over to the spy who moved the folder down to his height. He snatched it from her and quickly opened it up, pulling the files out and letting the useless manila folder fall to the floor.

He chuckled at the documents and pictures, flipping through them. "Very nice work here, lass… You had me worried for little while there, taking more time than usual."

"You didn't exactly give me much to go with; thought you were sending me on a goose chase."

He laughed again. "I ain't up for that… Unless maybe you'd like to have a little chase somewhere else."

He moved his hand to smack her ass, but the woman promptly grabbed it and tossed it back, glaring murderously at him. Shit, if this damn creep didn't pay her as much as he did whenever he asked for her help, she would pull the gun out from his holster and shoot the bastard dead. Maybe one day she would, if someone else hired her to take him out.

"Touching isn't part of the contract, Cobblepot."

Penguin laughed and turned away, shaking his head. Damn tease. A hot bitch, but incredibly stubborn and unrelenting, despite dressing as sexily as she did. She would make a great secretary, but he already had several of them, plus a couple of mistresses on the side for fun. She would make a good bodyguard though, but when he had offered, he was turned down coldly. Ah well, it ain't like a girl like her would be cheap anyway.

He tossed the papers onto his desk, snapping his fingers at Caddie. The woman quickly disappeared out a back door to get the money he had prepared for the spy when she finally decided to return with what he had asked for in the first place.

"Right, right… So it'd be fifty, right?"

She rested her hands on her hips, giving him a sour look. "Try sixty, after that sexual assault attempt."

His eyes narrowed at her, not finding the sudden demand in price increase amusing. "You out your bloody mind, you bitch. I ain't paying you more than we agreed."

"Fine. But if you don't hand over sixty…" She gestured to papers sitting on his desk. "I'll be taking those back. Maybe someone else out there could use them if they ever want to look for the Bat's little squeeze." Besides, with just him in the room, she could take them from him no trouble at all. And his little lackeys and good were easy enough to avoid, so it wouldn't be like she would have any trouble getting out of here safely.

Penguin growled to himself, shaking his head. Damn cunt was more trouble than she was worth sometimes. "Caddie!"

His secretary stuck her head out the door at the sound of her name. "Yeah?"

"Get an extra ten from the safe."

She nodded, quickly running out the room to get the extra money.

The older man grumbled to himself as he plopped back down into his seat while the woman sat down across from him, waiting for her money. He picked up the documents and started looking through them, nodding to himself as he inspected over the finer details on this report.

Well, now that he actually got a good look at the lass's face, he could tell that this… Kelsey Lunar girl was quiet the looker. Nothing too fancy or expensive like Caddie and his girls, but pretty enough, he supposed. Twenty-nine years old? Huh, he would have guessed the girl for younger with that baby-face… Lived downtown on the Main Street apartments and resided in room 429. Well, it didn't look like it would be too hard to get in…

He paused when he glanced down at what had been listed as her occupation, a dark smile crawling onto his lips. Well, well, well… Now this _was_ certainly an interesting find. A doctor at the asylum? And Killer Croc's doctor no less? Wasn't she a dangerous-living little lass?

"I say, you went quiet deep into this little investigation, Miss Niema Ramirez," he chuckled just as Caddie came back into the room with a black briefcase.

Neima rolled her eyes and tossed back her hair. Of course she did; the money was worth it. Besides, Penguin always got a temper if anyone ever did anything half-assed and she didn't feel like dealing with this shorty's rage. He paid good, but not enough for her to deal with his bullshit. She was a spy and an assassin, not a life coach.

"I think I may have another little job for you."

She raised an eyebrow. Another one? Well she didn't have any other work coming her way yet, so she didn't see the harm in taking another right away. "How much?"

"It's just a simple delivery job…" He waited for Caddie to sent down the briefcase on his desk before climbing into his lap, giggling a bit when he smacked her behind. Niema rolled her eyes at the display before he turned back to her and said, "I'll give you an extra ten if you do it and deposit it straight to your account."

She thought about it for a moment. Seventy thousand in total for two fairly easy jobs? Now that didn't sound too bad for a simple errand run… Though it really depended on where it was. Leaning back in her chair, she folded her arms across her chest as she eyed him for a moment before nodded. "What is it?"

"I need you to deliver a Mister Waylon Jones a little message for me… Sometime before next weeks ends."

She frowned. He meant Croc, the ugly monster? Shit, that guy was still in Arkham, and it took a little time to plan a sneak into that place. She wasn't a magician, damn it. Not to mention it was Croc, the freak who would try to eat her the second he saw her.

"Make it fifteen and I'll do it."

He huffed, realizing he should have figured she would have wanted more. Aw well, he could cut her a break since she was going to have to sneak into Arkham. Not to mention he didn't have the message prepared yet and that would take a night before he could give it to her to deliver to Croc.

"Fine. Fifteen more if you do this little favor for me. What you say, lass?"

Neima smirked. She stood up and snatched the briefcase off of his desk, throwing back her arm to have the briefcase hang over the back of her shoulder. She tossed her hair again before giving a small chuckle, turning away to exit his office. "Consider it done."

"I'll send you the message once I've got it ready… Give you some time to figure out a way in and out of Arkham. Just don't take too long, all right?"

She didn't even look back. "Just don't skip me on my pay."

And just like that, she left his office, slamming the doors behind him and leaving him chuckling like a madman, holding Caddie close to him as she started to rub his head and nuzzle his neck. By God, this was the greatest. Soon, once he had the Bat's little lady, the bastard wouldn't bother him with any more interruptions on his scheme.

Oh, how he loved it when things just came together.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Dear Lordy, Penguin - y u so difficult with dialogue?! *rage face***

**Anyway, yep another day, another chapter... And all of this writing more Batman stuff seriously makes me wanna go back to writing my other fic "A Dangerous Stranger." I mean, seriously - three games where Bane has been in all three of them and yet there is STILL only 11 fics in this category where he's considered one of the main characters and/or part of the couple attempting to be developed. **

**T****hat's more than Croc, who is seriously a super big freak (at least Bane looks human and has a human face and is probably 100x more likely to actually be in a mutual, loving relationship with someone else), and yet has 37 fics accounted for where he is one of the main characters and/or part of a couple trying to be made. **

**For shame (lol no just kidding, but hopefully you get my point).**

**Oh well... Maybe I'll take a small break and do some work on the other fic, we shall see. **


	9. Chapter 9

Croc felt like he was losing his mind and it wasn't due to any drugs the doctors had put him on or extreme boredom in his prison cell either. No, nothing like how it usually was whenever he was stuck in here until his next escape. He never would have thought something like this would have been bothering him but it was.

And damn did he despise how it made him feeling.

That fucking woman… He had first found his doctor, that Kelsey Lunar, to be fun. To be amusing for him. And she had remained that way, despite four months having gone by already. He should have grown bored with her, but he just hadn't. She was too much fun sometimes and she could actually give him a good hard laugh from time to time.

But that was now starting to become an issue. He, an inmate who despised talking to these pathetic and weak doctors, found himself at times _looking forward _towards his interviews sessions with Kelsey. As if they made him damn day or something like that. That wasn't right. He hated people, he hated doctors, and he hated when they discussed "curing" him. He shouldn't have been looking forward towards anything aside from eating that woman alive.

And that was another thing. Before, he had thought about eating her a few times. Now though? The thought hardly ever popped into his mind. That was too weird, too disturbing. She was just supposed to be entertainment and eventual food for him. So why did he ever think about eating her?! Even when he caught her damn scent… Her sweet, delicious, mouth-watering scent… He didn't want to kill her. He just wanted a taste, a quick bite to savor…

But never to actually consume all of her. It was completely frustrating and maddening. This wasn't him. He was never like this. He did not _ever_ view a human as anything other than food. He did not _ever_ enjoy the idea of someone actually visiting him and talking to him. It was impossible and he especially should have not have been feeling this way over a pathetic little woman like… Kelsey.

That woman must have done something to him or she just really knew how to get into his head. It pissed him off so much…

His hands balled into fists. Damn it, what had the bitch done to him?! It was almost like he had been gassed by Scarecrow or something of the like. That bitch's words and voice and face just kept running through his mind when he didn't have anything else to think about. He hated it, especially when a rather strange feeling wavered in his chest. It flared up even worse whenever she would say that she didn't think him to be a monster.

She was lying whenever she said those things. It was just her fucking job to say it… And yet, like some sort of hair-brained idiot, he found himself actually _believing_ her whenever she would say such pretty words. She treated him like an equal, she didn't reject him whenever they spoke or met up… It was far too different from the treatment he had gotten from every human he had ever encountered.

Enraged by his own thoughts, Croc snarled and punched the wall of his damn cell hard. What was happening to him? What the fuck did that stupid bitch do to him?! Even now, he was still thinking about her and how she treated him… Why? Why did it even fucking matter to him when she would just become his food eventually?

Letting out another snarl, the inmate sat down against the wall and rubbed his eyes. Fuck it all, he didn't have time for this shit. Maybe he would confront her about all of this there next session. He only had to wait another day… And since she didn't like the guards in here with them whenever she conducted his interviews, they would have total privacy… Well, except for those who watched his cell from the cameras.

She must have been giving him some sort of new medication… That had to have been the case since he had no other reason to go off of. And since she actually seemed to give a shit about his wellbeing, she would hopefully take him off of whatever the fuck she was giving him. He seriously could deal with this bullshit anymore.

He suddenly heard the door to his cell, making him jerk up his head. The hell? It was way too late at night for anyone to be coming into his cell at this time. Rising to his feet, he realized that he was at a slight disadvantage with his chained hands and legs. Not to mention that this fucking collar was still strapped on top of him.

He sniffed the air just as a guard entered the room. No… No, something was different about this sent. It was a woman, but not a guard. Her scent was much too rich for her to be one. So she wasn't a guard, but wearing the uniform… She must have snuck in, making his eyes narrow at her. If she was attempting to kill him, then she was going to have a hard time trying.

She turned to him and eyed him for a few moments letting out a dark laugh. "So this is where they keep you… Guess you must feel right at home, huh?"

He growled.

She rolled her eyes. "How charming," she said sarcastically, reaching up to take off her helmet. And once she had taken it off, Croc saw why she had smelled different than other guards.

Niema. He had only met her a few times, but that was due to working with some of the head crime bosses down in the underworld. They would sometimes hire the assassin for jobs that didn't think others could do. And from what he understood, she had a pretty impressive track record and was able to keep a low profile, until Batman ever caught her.

Seeing that she wasn't about to attack or killed her, he folded his arms and leaned back against the wall. "The hell do you want?"

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a phone from her pocket, holding it up for the cannibal to see. "Special delivery from a Mister Cobblepot."

He blinked. Penguin? The hell did that crazy bastard want? He held out one of his hands just as she tossed the phone at him, easily catching the tiny devices in his behemoth hands. Shit, did the Penguin just not believe in paper messages anymore? Working handheld devices always proved to be a challenge for him since his hands were so damn big and his claws were sharp enough to crack screens.

"Once you're down with the phone, just toss it," Niema said, kicking over the security helmet she had stolen to the man's feet. "And try not to keep the man waiting… We both know what a big pain in the ass that man can be when he gets too impatient."

Croc said nothing, just watching the woman as she left as quickly as she came, closing and locking the door behind her. Seriously, she couldn't have left it unlocked? If Penguin wanted him for a job, then he would have to get out somehow.

He looked down at the device in his hands. Giving an annoyed huff, he carefully tapped the screen and unlocked it, the main menu popping up. There was a text message for him, making him raise an eyebrow. Seriously? He sent that woman so he could get a fucking text? But when he clicked on the icon, it wasn't a text; it was a video message.

He turned the phone on its side and tapped on it, allowing it to start playing. At first, it was just a black screen and he thought maybe for a minute the stupid thing was broken. But then he saw a hand came into view and pulled the phone up, Croc wincing back a bit in disgust when he saw the Penguin had pulled it up to his ugly face, the man now laughing hard and chuckling as he looked into the camera.

"_Well, 'ello there, Croc, if you're getting this, then I got an assignment for you."_

His voice was as nasty as his face. Truthfully, Croc never liked working for the guy since being around him made him sick. The man smelled terrible, a mixture of alcohol, cigarettes, and bad cologne. He hoped this job wouldn't entitle being his bodyguard or anything of the sort.

"_You see… I've been having some trouble lately with the Bat and I just couldn't figure out how to get rid of the ol' bloke."_

Croc rolled his eyes. All right, so he wanted him to kill him? He could do that just fine.

"_But then… One of my men found something out rather interesting. I always thought that Bat to be a tight arse, but it seems he's got a taste for pretty little doctors, he does." _

His eyes widened. Wait? Batman had a girlfriend? That bastard? And the Penguin knew about her? Wait, right, the Penguin had hired Niema. She must have done some digging and found out about this supposed girlfriend. And she was a doctor too? He should have figured that some like that guy would have a thing for a professional; he wasn't like Penguin, who only went for airheads with a pretty face and huge breasts.

"_Got her name too… Seems like it's your new doctor, a Miss Kelsey Lunar."_ Then the man started laughing, as if it was the funniest he had heard all day.

That made Croc freeze up. Kelsey? Kelsey was Batman's girlfriend? No… No, that just couldn't be right. She wouldn't lie to him like that. He had asked her if she had a boyfriend, mainly to fuck with her, but she had said no. And she had told him that she never wanted to lie to him about anything…

But she had been lying. She was in a relationship… with Batman. With his most hated nemesis. And that made him even more infuriated than before. She had lied. She was Batman's woman. That fucking Bat had taken her for his own… As if he could just take whatever he wanted. Because that was all he did. Taking and taking whatever didn't belong to him-!

Wait, what? Croc had snapped out of his own thoughts when he realized how angry her had gotten. And it wasn't even at her, the one who lied to him. He was angry at the Bat. For taking Kelsey. As if she was his and not Batman's. No, he didn't own her. She was just his doctor, that was it. He was just supposed to be mad at her for deceiving him.

But the more he thought about her belonging to another man, to Batman, the more his rage swelled inside his chest.

"_Now then, easy task for you. I need you to bring your little doctor friend to me and keep an eye on her for a bit. Least until my plans are done, then I'll let you have her, 'cause I won't got any use for her afterwards. Niema should have dropped off the keys to your cuffs and collar; you ain't getting in my club with that ugly getup." _

He looked around the room. He sure as hell didn't see any damn keys. Did the bitch forget them? But when he moved to step forward to take a better look, his foot tapped the helmet she had rolled to him before she left. Carefully, he squatted down and lifted it up, looking inside it. Sure enough, the keys were right there waiting for him.

"_Don't keep me waiting too long, Croc – just get me the girl and bring her to me. I'll make it worth your while."_

Then the message ended, allowing him to growl and curl his fingers around the device, crushing it in his hand. He threw the broken pieces down on the floor and had to calm himself down, his hands shaking in rage. That damned woman… That fucking Bat, making her into his woman as if he had the write to do that.

The hell he would let that continue on. Kelsey was his doctor, his entertainment… He wouldn't let anyone else have her. He would rather kill her than have her belong to anyone else in any other way. Besides, he still needed to deal with her lying to him.

He snatched the keys out of the helmet and started to unlock his chains and collar. Now that he was free, he just needed to get out of here.

And that was never too much of a challenge, especially now that he was free from those damned chains.

* * *

><p>The next morning was chaos for Kelsey. Sarah came banging on her door at six that morning. At first, she had been annoyed since she didn't have to wake up for another half an hour, but now that she was awake, she could clearly understand why the woman had come to her apartment so early.<p>

It was on the six o' clock morning news on pretty much all television stations, making it the top news story spot. Waylon Jones a.k.a. Killer Croc had Croc had escaped last night around two in the morning and had ran into the sewers. Sarah had feared that he was going after Kelsey and begged her to stay at home until Batman caught him.

Kelsey tried to argue and tell Sarah she was being ridiculous, that Croc and her were on good terms. He didn't want to hurt her, at least not since those first few interviews. He had never wanted to attack her or eat her like he did with others. In fact, they had developed a very nice doctor-and-patient relationship, unlike most of the doctors and their patients at Arkham.

But she ended up losing the argument against the older doctor, mainly because Sharp had called her around seven-thirty and specifically ordered her to stay off Arkham until Croc's capture. She had been a little frustrated at first, but understood where everyone was coming from. At least she was on paid leave though. Still, now she was stuck in her apartment until God knew when Batman would catch the man. It could have been anywhere between a few days to a few weeks, depending on if the man was planning on committing any crimes.

Currently, it was midafternoon and she was sitting in her living room, bored out of her mind. She would have gone out to the park or something, but since it had started to rain around ten that morning and continued to pour, she didn't have much of a choice but to stay indoors. She could only watch so much television and Netflix before growing bored and losing her mind.

She ended up just cleaning around the apartment and doing some laundry, since there was literally nothing else to do. All of her friends were at work, so she couldn't call any of them to hang out. She knew Bruce was definitely busy with his day job, as well as Barbara, so she couldn't talk to them either.

When she had started to clean the kitchen though, she noted that her fridge wasn't as stocked up on food as she thought she had been. Checking the clock, she saw that it was only three. Well, unlike most days, she actually had time to make herself a decent, full-cooked meal. She might as well treat herself when she didn't have to work. A supermarket was literally just down the street, so she wouldn't have to walk far.

Once she had finished cleaning the kitchen, she had put on a jacket and grabbed her purse to head on over to the store. She knew that she couldn't buy too much, considering her weak arms, but she could at least buy some milk and some ingredients for a few meals for the next couple of days. Hell, maybe she would even get some things to do some baking. She had to do _something_ while she was bored and stuck at home for God knew how long.

As she walked down towards the store, she glanced at a manhole in the street. Even though people would have thought she was crazy for thinking such things, she couldn't help but to worry about him a little. From what Croc told her, the sewers were his home and it was where he retreated… Excluding some safe houses she knew that he had around the docks. Still, she hoped that he had at least found some shelter from the rain.

_I'm being stupid,_ she thought as she entered the supermarket. Croc could clearly take care of himself just fine if he had lived as a criminal for as long as he had in the city of Gotham. Not to mention he was a Category Nine patient. He was a hardened criminal and a dangerous one at that. She needed to be worried about the poor souls who may have been unfortunate enough to actually come across him during his escape.

Her mind flashed back to the news reports from this morning. They were still trying to figure how he had even escaped. From what had been reported, one female guard had been murdered prior to Croc's escape before he had killed at least ten other guards and hospitalized another ten more. Someone must have helped him escaped… That had to be the only logical explanation, but until it was confirmed or video footage was released, they wouldn't know for sure.

Batman was probably already on the case too. Maybe if she ever came in contact with him before he captured Croc, she could ask him about it. But she doubted she would be able to talk to him anytime soon. He would definitely be busy for the next few nights, trying to track down Croc. But since Croc was probably trying his best to hide himself for the next few days in order to put some distance in between him and the cops, she knew Batman would have a hard time.

Kelsey ended up leaving the store just as the sky had started to get darker and the rain began to fall harder. Damn, it seemed that there would be a heavy storm tonight. She hoped it wouldn't be a typhoon or anything of the sort. Those were never good for the city…

A chill suddenly went down her spine and it wasn't from the cold. She glanced over her shoulder, a wave of anxiety coming over her. Something felt… off. She couldn't shake off the feeling of someone watching her. Following her ever since she had left the store.

Was she just being paranoid? She glanced around again, trying to find someone, anyone, who might have been watching her. But she couldn't see anyone, mainly due to the rain and her hood being in the way. Everyone didn't seem to be even looking at her though. Their heads were either looking down at the ground or looking straight forward, everyone trying to get to their destinations in order to get out of the rain.

She gripped her groceries tightly. Was she just imagining things? She had to have been… There wasn't anyone there. Maybe she was simply being paranoid because Croc had gotten out. After all, everyone had seemed convince that he was after her for whatever reason. Their words were just getting to her head.

She only realized how wrong she was when she walked by an alleyway that was near her apartment. She didn't notice the large hand jump out at her and neither did anyone else walking by her. They didn't even notice the large clawed hand take a rough hold of Kelsey's arm and yank her into the alleyway.

Kelsey nearly screamed as she was suddenly pulled into the dark alley, but she never had a chance to scream as another hand grabbed hard over her mouth. The groceries by now had fallen out of her hands and spilled onto the floor, the woman being overcome with fear as she was staring directly into the eyes of Croc, who was smiling monstrously at her.

He chuckled. "Miss me, Doc?"

She paled, the color draining from her face as she could only stare at him in disbelief. Croc. He was here. He was standing in front of her and holding her tightly, keeping her mouth covered and making escape impossible for her. No. No he wasn't coming for her. Her friends and coworkers were supposed to have been wrong… Croc wanted nothing from her except to entertain him whenever he was stuck in Arkham!

Another horrifying thought had come to mind. Did she outlast her usefulness to him? Was he tired of her? Did he escape and hope to find her in order to make her a meal? She was shaking hard, eyes wide with horror; she was surprised that she hadn't wet herself due to the fear consuming her.

And the look of terror on her face only made Croc laugh hard. The woman was totally petrified… Terrified of the monster of Gotham, as she should have been. And while he had his business to settle with her, he knew he needed to get her to Penguin first.

"Come on, Doc… We're going on a little trip."

Kelsey only let out muffled screams in hoped someone would hear her, but it was all in vain as the criminal dragged her down into his domain. Her groceries were still lying on the floor, but no one bothered to notice, too busy focused on trying to get home and get home fast.

* * *

><p>Sarah had been the first one to notice that Kelsey was gone. She had gone over to check on her after work, but when she had gotten to her apartment, no one was there to answer. She had been only confused at first. She had gotten home at seven, so she thought that maybe Kelsey went out to eat for dinner that evening, so she tried again at eight.<p>

There still had been no answer, so she waited until eight-thirty to knock again. When the woman didn't answer, she tried texting her. After twenty minutes, she tried calling. And she kept calling until finally ten rolled by, making Sarah more and more anxious.

And finally, when midnight came by and Kelsey still hadn't answered the door, Sarah had called the police. She knew that they couldn't do anything, but she knew that maybe at least Commissioner Gordon would be able to tell Batman, who had saved her from Zsasz all those months ago.

Damn it, she knew what had happened to the woman! She had warned her that this would happen! Croc had been after her! She just knew that monster had escaped and wanted to kidnap her!

Oh God… What if… What if Kelsey was already dead? What if Croc had already killed her? Feasted upon her flesh like he had threatened to do the first time Kelsey had interview him? She was probably already dead… And it was all her fault too. Because she had asked Kelsey to interview him in her place. Because she had been a coward. Because she had allowed Kelsey and Croc to meet in the first place.

She felt sick to her stomach thinking about what she had done. Kelsey… Kelsey was dead. She just knew the woman was dead. Even when the police had come to her apartment to ask her questions, she didn't end up being much used to them. She just started crying and continued to cry harder and harder the more she realized that she had probably gotten her friend killed.

To make the guilt worse, two police officers had said that they had spotted spoiled and fallen groceries and a purse in an alleyway near the apartment complex. The purse contained both a cellphone and a wallet, both of which had belonged to Kelsey.

And right in the alleyway was a manhole, a manhole that lead to the sewers, to Croc's lair.

Sarah couldn't stomach it. She ended up vomiting after the police had left to warrant a search for the young woman. But she knew better. It was far too late. She was certain that she contacted these people far too late. And even if they told Batman about what had happened to Kelsey, by the time Batman actually found her, he would only find her corpse… or whatever remained of it.

She could only pray and hope that Batman did find Croc. And when he did, she pleaded in her mind that he would make him pay for hurting Kelsey. Even if she wished him death, she knew Batman would never do that… But she could hope that he would at least beat the ever-living hell out of him.

And Sarah swore to herself that she would never, _ever_ let this happen again to someone else. She couldn't be afraid anymore. She was a doctor and she would do her damn job.

She would never let someone else pay the price for her cowardice again.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Ohmergerd guys I hit my NaNo word count of 50k words... BUT I SHALL STILL BE WRITING MORE BEFORE THE 30TH MARK 8U**


	10. Chapter 10

The Penguin was lounging on his large loveseat in his office, his feet kicked up onto the table with two other secretaries of his, Lucy and Brittany, who were leaning up against him, rubbing up against his sides and kissing at his cheeks and necks. He had his arms wrapped around them, being in a particularly good mood right now.

He had just gotten the news from his men: Croc was already on his way to bring Kelsey to him. Now he would finally get a front and full lock on this pretty little lass. After all, there must have been something special about her that caught the Bat's eye. Maybe she was actually a little criminal herself. After all, he knew that the Bat had gotten wrapped up with Catwoman and Ra's daughter a few times, those little bitches.

Still, they at least had reputations. He had to get Niema to find anything on the woman. Of course, that was because he only had a blurry picture of her, so it wasn't really much to go off of. Aw well, what the hell did he care? Croc had gotten the girl for him and now he was bringing her here.

He had been rather excited too, so he decided to meet this woman personally… Give a warm welcome. After all, she would be here for a long while, unless of course she did something to piss him off… He was known to have temper from time to time.

Heavy and hard footsteps started to echo throughout his office. His girls stopped rubbing all over him, pausing and looking up at the door. The two guards in the room glanced at each other, clearly nervous about who was coming in. Penguin had to laugh, shaking his head. Stupid little men, always getting scared by little sounds…

"Aw, it's all right, lads, just an ugly monster… Just try not to look him in the eye or get on my nerves, else I'll feed you to him."

The two goons stiffened in fright. They wouldn't put it past the man to do that either. If the Penguin felt like you were crossing him or weren't living up to his expectations, he had no problems disposing you in the worst way possible. Christ, they remembered what happened to Billy just a few weeks ago. The boss had taken his whole eye out before shoving it down his throat.

But they would rather be fed their own eyeballs than be fed to Croc. They would just need an eye patch to fix the problem. They would be dead if they were sent to that freak.

The footsteps grew louder, harder, quicker. Penguin smirked and shook his head, moving one of his hands to grope Lucy's ass. She seemed surprised at first before chuckling, moving back down to nuzzle into his chest.

"You might wanna step back a bit."

The guards didn't need to be told twice, who quickly retreated from the door. Just in time too as the door was suddenly kicked down, causing his two girls to gasp and flinch back a bit. Penguin just smiled brightly, leaning back in his seat as the giant monster came into the room, panting hard and staring hard at him.

But the Penguin could care less about the ugly face the other was making. His eyes were drawn to the body slung over his shoulder, seeing her wiggle a bit and twitching and kicking at the man's chest. She was definitely putting up a struggle, but the stupid girl should have known better, especially if she was Croc's doctor – there was no way she was getting away any time soon.

"What took you so long, Croc? Thought you might have gotten lost down there in the sewers for a minute there."

Croc snarled as he stepped into the room. "You try dealing with a bitch who doesn't know what to quit." He felt her slide off of his shoulder again, making him growl and buck her back into her original position.

She just didn't know when to quit. Even though they both knew he was much stronger and faster than her, she still attempted to run and get away from him. He had even threatened to rip her arm off and yet, she still struggled, still screamed, and still tried to run away. The bitch had even tried to reason with him. As if they were still doctor and patient.

Such a stupid and foolish woman. They were in Arkham anymore. She couldn't talk to him like that while they were both out here in the real world. Right now, she was under his control, his command. She didn't get to ask the questions and demand answers. That was his job now… Well, technically it was Penguin's as this was his show, but that didn't mean he was just going to bow in submission towards this fucker.

Unless maybe he paid a good price.

Kelsey cried out when she was suddenly shoved on the floor, groaning in pain. But she didn't even have time to gather her surroundings or even think about her situation when her patients yanked her back up to her feet by the back of her shirt. But he didn't let go, holding her there as she looked at the short, obese man before him.

Her eyes widened as her mouth fell slightly agape. Penguin? Wait… She was in the Iceberg Lounge? She glanced at Croc. No… This wasn't right. Why the hell would Croc bring her here? She had believed that he had wanted to eat her, like everyone else had thought as well. But no, that didn't seem to be the case… He had brought her to this crime boss for a reason she didn't know.

Her attention turned back to the Englishman, who had pushed away the two provocatively dressed women away from him as he stood up, grabbing his infamous umbrella that was lying on the table. She tried to step back, but Croc held her in place, much to her terror. A thousand things started flashing through her mind as she tried to think of what was going on, what was happening, and why exactly this was all going on.

What would the Penguin want with her? They had never even met… And it wasn't as if Croc would have told anything about her. He had been in Arkham this entire time! But she had obviously been brought here for a reason. While she didn't want to talk to this man, she hoped that he would at least give him some answer.

He gave a nasty smirk. "Well, Miss Kelsey, nice of you to join us."

Her eyes widened. He knew her name. But how? Why? She had nothing of use to him… She was no important or special! Now she was even more confused than before, but remained silent as he stepped up to her.

"Aww…" He stuck up the front side of his umbrella, the tip touching her chin to tilt up her head. She stiffened in fright, but couldn't find her voice. Besides, she was too worried about saying the wrong thing. "You're a shy lass, ain't you?"

She swallowed, flinching when he took the umbrella away.

He turned his back to her, moving to smack his umbrella against his hand. She recognized this time of behavior; he was ready to give a long talk.

"You see, lass… You're going to help with me a little plan I've got in mind." He glanced at her, seeing that she was just staring at him with wide eyes. How cute; she was speechless. "I've been trying to get some money collected for a little plan of mine, just to take down a rival company, you know… But your little Bat's been getting in my way." He turned back to her and narrowed his eyes. "And I don't like it."

She stiffened. So he was admitting to all of those robberies… He was the reason why the bank she had been at had been robbed, why the man next to her had been brutally murdered right in front of her. And all to take down another company… She couldn't say she was surprised though, considering this man was always trying to take down his competitors.

Then she paused. Wait… her Bat? She knew that of course he would bring Batman into his speech, but why on earth would he call him hers? As if she owned him or something such as that? She didn't own Batman or anything of the sort. Kelsey couldn't see where he was getting at, making her more and more confused as she furrowed her brows, trying to think of a reason as to why he said that.

Penguin mistook her confusion for a glare, making his lips curl up into a smirk. "Don't worry, no harm will come to your precious Bat… Though, I think you ought to worry more about yourself."

Fear shot down her spine. Oh no… He was threatening her. Her life was the one in danger, something she probably should have realized sooner when Croc had brought her here. Honestly though, she was much too focused on why she was there in the first place than her life being in danger. But what did he want with her?!

He stepped up to her again, though this time he kept his umbrella by his side. He laughed at the small look of fear on her face. She was way too cute and simple minded… But looking over at her, he could see why Batman might have fallen for her. She was a pretty little thing, petite and small with some nice curves.

"Well… While I was expecting the Bat's girl to be must more… voluptuous, but you're still pretty."

Kelsey felt like she had been hit by a car by that answer. They thought… she was Batman's girlfriend?! How?! That was impossible! She had kissed Bruce, yes, but no one knew Bruce's identity! No one knew about his identity! And she never spent anytime with Bruce while he was in his Batman persona. She knew how dangerous that could be. So how-

Penguin interrupted her thoughts when he saw the shocked look on her face with a dark chuckle. "You and the Bat didn't hide your secret very well… One of my men caught you hugging at the bank robbery they attempted. Probably the best discovery my men have made. Slip up on your part though, that's for sure."

Oh… Oh no. She had forgotten. Batman had hugged her tightly at the bank after he had saved her. After he thought he had almost lost her. He had been overcome with emotion and he hadn't been able to stop himself from hugging her tightly, even though she didn't hug back. But even though she didn't reciprocate the embrace, anyone who saw it would have thought the same as Penguin had thought.

But still! He was wrong! She wasn't Batman's girlfriend! The man may have had feelings for her, but they weren't in a relationship! But the Penguin didn't know that and she seriously doubted he cared either.

Still, she finally found her voice and squeaked out, "I-I'm not his girlfriend!"

The Penguin paused for a moment, staring at her for a few moments. The entire room was in silence for a few moments as everyone just looked at her with narrowed and confused eyes. For a moment, she thought they had believed her, which made her brighten up with hope.

But then the crime boss laughed hard, throwing back his head as his laughter echoed through the office. The two girls on the couch joined in, though their giggles were much quieter compared to their boss. No… No, they didn't believe her. They were just getting a kick out of her desperate response.

"Oh, don't be trying to go and lying to me now, lass, I ain't no fool."

"I-I'm not lying!" she cried, trying to break free from Croc's grip. But that proved to be useless, the man holding her tightly and keeping her stuck in her spot. "Pl-Please, i-it's not what you think!"

"Even if it isn't…" He stepped back over to her and grabbed her chin, making her look down at him. He studied her over a bit, nodding to himself. Smooth skin, pretty face, nice hazel eyes and long lush hair – definitely a pretty girl. Too bad she was all covered up with her raincoat and jeans and long-sleeved shirt. "Clearly the Bat's interested in you, am I right?"

She hesitated for a moment, even though she knew she should have just denied it. Yes, Bruce did… have feelings for her. That she couldn't die or shake off. Hell, they had kissed yesterday because they both had got caught up in the heat of the moment! That didn't make them a couple though, especially when she hadn't actually given him a response to his feelings.

Her silence had lasted too long and that was enough for Penguin, who released her chin and mockingly patted her cheek. "Well, Miss Kelsey, I suggest you get comfortable here…. 'Cause you're gonna be here for a long while, you are."

Her eyes widened. Wait, he was turning her into a hostage?! Was that why he had brought her here?! He had to have been joking! He wouldn't get anything out of her! She was useless to him… But she knew better than to actually say it aloud. If he felt her to be useless, he would kill her. Or at least let Croc deal with her and in that case, she definitely would be dead.

The Penguin smiled brightly when he saw the look of horror on his captive's face. Seemed like the bitch was finally starting to get the message. There was no getting out of here now that she was here. He had big plans to accomplish here and he didn't need the Batman getting in his way.

"Now… With you in my hands, the Batman will think twice about trying to do anything to stop me. 'Cause if he tries anything…" His hand shot up to grip her neck tightly, causing her to gag hard as her breath was cut off. "I'll kill you the second I find out."

She struggled hard in his grip, unable to pushing his hand away. Dear God, he certainly didn't look it, but he was strong! And she was starting to lose her vision a bit, choking for air as it got harder and harder to breathe. Oh Christ, it was starting to get fuzzy…

Seeing her gurgle made him laugh and he quickly let her go. If Croc still wasn't holding her up, she would have collapsed to the ground by now. But he kept her up, allowing her to stand as she coughed hard and gasped for air. Oh Lord, this was hell… She was trapped in a penthouse with a crazy crime boss and his cannibal bodyguard!

"Now, I'll have ol' Croc here show you to your new room… Might as well get comfortable there, lass, you'll be here for a while."

Kelsey opened her mouth to protest, but her voice caught her in throat when she suddenly felt a hand on her upper outer thigh. She jerked her head up to look at the Penguin, who had a creepy, dark smirk on his face as his eyes locked with hers. Fear and disgust went down her spine, stiffening even more when she felt his hand move slowly behind her, making her tense up even more.

"And if you ever get lonely… I may be able to keep you company."

She gasped out in horror when she felt his hand grope her backside hard, her head snapping down to look at the man with anger and terror.

"What you say to that, lass?"

It was pure instinct that made her react, even though she knew she should have thought it through better. But she couldn't stop her knee from jerking up, hitting him hard in the stomach. He let out a small, surprised grunt of pain, the force of her knee jerk sending him stumbling back as he clutched his stomach hard.

Croc's eyes had widened. Wow… She had actually hit him. Most times whenever the bastard had made sexual advances toward a woman, they either reacted like one of those two bimbos on his couch or just stood their frozen in fear. The only other people he knew that would react with violence were criminals like him, like Ivy or Niema. He wasn't expecting Kelsey to do it and by the look on Penguin's face, he could tell he wasn't expecting either.

It was almost enough to make him laugh, but he was able to keep it at a small smirk. Served the little shit right for touching what didn't belong to him.

But the Penguin was less than amused, glaring hard at the young woman. "Looks like you need to be taught some manners."

Kelsey only had time to let out a small gasp when he suddenly slammed the handle of his umbrella hard into her stomach. She groaned out in pain as her body fell forward, the wind having been knocked out of her. It took all of her strength to not just throw up right then and there, instead panting and heaving hard to keep herself from vomiting all over the carpet.

He could hear his girls laughing behind him, making him smirk. What a weak little woman… He decided to be merciful on her though, since that was definitely enough to scare her into not thinking about trying anything like that again. He finally turned his attention away from her and looked up at Croc, waving his hand to him.

"I got a guest room in the back, all nice and ready for her. Be a good man and take her there, would you? I got another assignment for you when you're done."

Croc rolled his eyes as he picked the still coughing woman up and threw her over his shoulder. "You own me for this; I'm not an errand boy."

"I ain't asking you to do it for free. We'll discuss your pay when you get back."

That was more like it, but he still couldn't get over the fact that he had gotten angered when the bastard had actually put his hands on Kelsey, both in the sexual and violent manners he had just witness. Rotten little creep… And people thought he was a monster? Penguin was his own class of scum, even though the guy actually thought he was some sophisticated crime boss. Not even close, but he kept his mouth shut on the matter.

Once she was secure over his shoulder, he promptly turned around and walked out of his office towards the back rooms. He could tell which one was hers since there were already two guards stationed at the door. When they saw him, they stiffened in fright and moved out of the way, allowing him to easy push open the door and bring her inside.

She gasped when he suddenly tossed her down onto the floor, landing hard on her stomach. She hissed out in pain again, hands clenching hard around the carpet. Damn it… Damn it, how did things end up like this?! How the hell did things get to be this way?! She had just been out getting groceries and now… Now she was trapped in some crime boss's penthouse above his nightclub.

"Get up."

She winced at the tone and looked back behind her shoulder, eyes widening when she saw the dark glare Croc was giving her. Oh no, now he was angry at her?! What for?! What the hell had she done to make him angry?! Or was it because they were no longer in Arkham? He didn't have to pretend to be civilized anymore. He was not strapped with chains and an electric collar. He was free and allowed to do as he pleased.

And if he wanted to unleash his rage at her and hurt her right now, he could without any repercussions.

She swallowed and turned over on her back before slowly rising to her feet, never taking her eyes off of him. If she looked away from just a second, he could take that chance to rip her throat out. Not that she thought he would, considering it seemed like Penguin was his boss and he wanted her alive for his own purposes.

Then, Croc said, "So, Doc… You thought you could lie to me, huh?"

Her eyes widened. Lie? Lie?! Just what the hell did she lie about?! This night was just getting worse and worse as her confusion grew. Everyone seemed to be thinking or believing something about her that just simply wasn't true! First, Penguin thought that she was Batman's girlfriend and now Croc thought he lied to her?! This night just didn't seem to end with the misinformation and misunderstandings.

"L-Listen to me, Croc, I don't–"

"You told me our relationship would be open one… But no. You lied to me. You didn't mention that you were actually fucking the Bat."

That was what he was angry about?! He thought that she had lied to him?! She had never lied to him and she would never! She wanted Croc to trust her and actually believe that he could put faith in her as his doctor! She would never lie to him about anything! This was all just a huge and detrimental mistake! Why couldn't anyone understand that?!

He took a step forward, causing her to pale and take a step back. She knew she had to start talking and start talking fast, but with her heart racing and entire body basically frozen in terror, she could only hold up her hands in front of her, as if that would keep Croc away from her.

It only proved to be useless though as he grabbed her hands and yanked her forward. She shrieked when he suddenly held up her arms, suspending her in midair. She attempted to kick at him as her eyes went wide with fright, struggling to free herself as he brought her to his face.

"Pl-Please!" she finally cried out, fearing that he would rip off her arm. Or worse. "Pl-Please, Croc, I-I didn't lie! I-I'm not in a relationship with Batman! I swear!"

"Really? Seems like Penguin has some reasonable evidence that say otherwise."

She cried out when he suddenly tossed her onto the bed, his hand pressing into her back to keep her pinned down. Kelsey squirmed violently, hands clawing into the sheets beneath her as she tried to pull herself out from under her patient's hand. But it proved to be useless, the poor woman crying out in horror when she felt his teeth graze her neck and shoulder.

Croc breathed in her scent deeply, trying to find a smell from the Bat. But no… She smelled like her normal self mixed in with the rain. Though, that could have just meant that she hadn't had sex with Batman in a while, since that was the only way other people's scents stayed on others. It was something that he always had to deal with when concerning people like Penguin or Black Mask.

But she didn't have his scent… That didn't mean that she wasn't in a relationship with him. She was probably just shouting and begging him to listen in an attempt to save her sorry ass from his rage.

"Pl-Please!"

He glanced down at her, seeing that she had turned her head and was looking at him with pleading eyes.

"I-I'm not his girlfriend, believe me!"

His eyes narrowed at the frightening woman. Believe her? She was the bitch who lied to him in the first place. Besides, she was his doctor; doctors always tried to lie to and manipulate their patients. He had thought her different, but now… That didn't seem to be the case.

"Why should I? Seems like you are with him and you're just trying to cover your ass."

"NO!" She kicked back her foot, Croc hissing a bit when she hit his stomach. "No! I'm not lying! I-I swear! I-I never had a reason to lie to you!"

"… So you're not dating him?"

"No! No… No, I swear… Please, Croc, I wouldn't lie to you… I swore to you that I would never lie to you… Please, please, believe me…"

His eyes narrowed at her as she stared up at him with wide and terrified eyes. Normally, Croc loved it when he heard a person begging like Kelsey was at the moment. It made him feel power, delighted and excited by the sounds of them pleading for mercy. It reminded both him and his helpless victim that he was in charge, and that always gave him a good needed rush.

And it was pissing him off that the look of fear on her face wasn't doing just that. He actually found himself wanting to believe her, even though there was no reason for him to so! Well, no, not exactly… After knowing her for four months, he knew that she had never done anything before this to make herself seem untrustworthy.

That was also pissing him off. He actually wanted to believe that she was telling the truth, that Penguin had gotten it wrong. Still, even if Penguin was wrong, it was probably better if the guy kept thinking that she was the Bat's girl. Otherwise, he would just shoot her. He never did like to deal with anyone or anything he considered useless.

Kelsey's breath hitched when she felt him shove her down further into the sheets before letting her go. She heard him footsteps back away from her, making her flip over on her back and sit up, seeing that although Croc was glaring mercilessly at her, he wasn't making any moves to try and kill her. She swallowed, but hoped that he didn't mean any harm or wasn't plotting to rip her throat out right then and there.

"Swear on your life?"

"Wh-What-?"

"You swear on your life that you're not fucking the Bat?"

Quickly understanding what he meant, she nodded frantically, holding her hands to her chest. When she heard him give a dark and heavy huff, she knew that she had gotten the criminal to believe her and had quite possibly saved her own life. She let out a deep breath of relief when he turned away from her, grumbling something to himself.

All right, she had convinced him of the truth… But now that just left Penguin.

"C-Croc, about Penguin–"

"You should just keep pretending you're his bitch."

Her eyes widened at the sudden declaration as Croc turned to her with a dark look on his face. Pretend to be Batman's girlfriend?! Why?! So she would have to remain here even longer?! No! No she just wanted to get out of here and go home! She would swear not to tell anyone…

She realized what Croc was trying to say. This was the Penguin she was dealing with. She couldn't convince him that he had been wrong about her. He would kill her if he thought that she wasn't useful to him… Not unless she wanted to end up being another bed-warmer of his, as much as the thought had made her gag.

Pretend to be lovers with Batman or end up dead? The choice wasn't really that hard to make, but she feared the man would try to torture her for answers about her fake lover. Besides, he was only keeping her hear because he believed that with her as his hostage, Batman would stop interfering with his plans. But she knew that wouldn't happen. Batman would still keep stopping the robbery, would still try to take him down, and would try to throw him into prison.

And if that happened, she would end up dead soon anyway.

"Get comfortable; you'll be here for a while."

Her eyes widened as she looked back up at the giant, but he just walked out of the room and shut the door behind him. She almost got up to run after him, but then she heard the lock snap in place, trapping her inside. Great; now she was stuck here until either death or rescue came… And with these criminals, death seemed to be the more likely result.

She fell back onto the bed and threw her hands over her face. She could only hope that this wouldn't get any worse.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Ugh... *weak flails* I'm seriously starting to lose major steam on this fic, which makes me a sad panda ;3; Ever since I hit 50k words, my creativity is dwindling for the story, which sucks because I wanna keep working on it and adding to my NaNo word count.**

**But at the same time, when I started chapter 11, I just blanked out and became sad. ;-;**

**Hopefully the next chapter won't take too long to write, but we shall see... Sorry if I keep you waiting too long. :**


	11. Chapter 11

It had been two nights since Kelsey's disappearance. Batman had searched all through the sewers last night and the night before when he wasn't busy trying to stop Penguin's lackeys from breaking into some warehouses at the docks. He had noted that the warehouses had all been property of both Wayne Enterprises and to the Falcone family and mainly steel had been stored there.

He would have been wondering what they had wanted from there, if it wasn't for the small package that one of the men had strapped to his chest. He had carefully opened it, though he had to admit, he wasn't expecting what was actually inside the wrapped up "gift" from Penguin.

It was a CD with the word "Batman" written on it with a black Sharpie. He and Oracle had been able to deduce that a woman, no doubt one of Penguin's women, wrote it. The man had wanted him to find this disk and he was wary about what might have been on it. And, honestly, he had thought about and hoped for anything but what was actually on the CD.

When he had seen Kelsey tied up to a chair with tape over her mouth, it was almost as if the world had dropped beneath his feet.

He was currently in the Batcave with Alfred and Barbara, watching the video again. Barbara couldn't help but to worry about Bruce. He was becoming obsessed with it. He hadn't stopped watching it since he had gotten it later that evening. While he said it was for clues as to where he exact location would be, Barbara knew better.

This was Kelsey, a woman Bruce had been in love with for years. Even though they were not a relationship, his feelings were genuine and his desire to protect her was just as strong as it was to protect all of his loved ones. She glanced at Alfred, who was keeping his eyes locked on the other man as he watched him intently. He was thinking the same thing as her – Bruce's mind had to have been flashing back to when he was a boy, to when he had been scared and frightened and helpless as his parents had been murdered right in front of him…

He rewound the tape before playing it one final time.

It started out with the Penguin standing in front of the camera, looking incredibly pleased with himself. He started off with a dark laugh and a shake of his head, swinging his umbrella clockwise in his hand.

"'_Ello there, Batman,"_ he sneered, grinning wildly as he stopped his umbrella mid-swing. _"I knew you wouldn't be able to keep your twitchy little fingers out of my business, so I decided to send you a little message."_

The man paused for a moment when he heard a door open. He let out a small laugh before looking back to the camera.

"_You see, I need to work on my plans, but you, you little shitty bastard, are getting in my way… And I can't have that now, oh no… I got big plans and I ain't letting you ruin them for me."_

Bruce's eyes narrowed, his hands balling into fists. He just watched as the Penguin ordered the person who had just come into through the door – Croc – to bring his "guest" over to sit on a chair next to him as he moved a bit out of the camera's center focus. Then came the sight that caused Bruce's blood to boil in his faces, his knuckles turning white with how hard he had his hands curled.

Croc came in front of the camera with a woman thrown over his shoulder. Her legs were tied together with her hands cuffed behind her back. Bruce watched as Croc moved to stand behind the chair, before he pulled her off of his shoulder and forced her to sit on the metal chair in front of the camera.

He gritted his teeth. Kelsey… Her eyes were wide with terror, her mouth was duck taped shut, and she couldn't move with Croc's hands on her shoulders, holding her down and forcing her to look into the camera. Christ, she looked so terrified and confused. When he had first seen the video, a thousand questions had raced through his mind. At first, he believed that this had had something to do with her job as Croc's doctor.

But no. To his horror, it was because of him.

He heard Penguin laugh, making him look back to the video. _"I would'a thought you'd put two and two together, but I guess you're just not that clever."_

Penguin moved over in front of Kelsey and seized her chin to make her look into the camera. She gave a muffled cry, twitching a bit when he leaned up against her face. _"Now this is a cute little lass you got yourself. Probably should have kept your girl a secret though. Made it a little too easy to find her."_

Bruce had to take a deep breath to calm himself down, realizing just how hard he was gripping his hands. Still, this was in the end his fault. He had gotten Kelsey wrapped up in this, though he didn't know why Penguin believed that he was in a relationship with him or how he had even gotten wind of Kelsey having any sort of relation to him. Whatever the reasons were, Kelsey was in danger and it was evidently his own fault.

The fact only made him angrier with himself. This entire time, he had said that her job was the most dangerous thing she could have gotten herself involved. He had told her to quit. Hell, he had even offered her a position at his company to get her out of Arkham! But as dangerous as being a doctor there was, it should have been more obvious to him that having her even associate with him was what was really endangering her life.

He glanced to Barbara. It was because she knew him that she was even in that chair in the first place. The Joker had found out that Barbara was important to him… and now she was paralyzed from the waist down.

And if he didn't do something, Kelsey would be dead because of him. Just like his parents.

When he looked back at the screen, Penguin had already pulled away from her and looked back to the camera. _"Now, here's what you're gonna do now. You're gonna keep your bloody nose out'a my business and let me be and I won't put a bullet through your girlfriend's head. Or you know…" _He looked up to Croc before smiling menacingly as he turned his attention to the camera. _"Feed them to Croc here."_

Kelsey paled at the threat, now starting to squeal and protest while shaking in her seat. It made Penguin laugh harder, who just snapped his fingers. Her screams and struggling only got worse as Croc lifted up out of her seat and threw her back over his shoulder.

"_Don't worry, Batman… You leave me alone for the next few days and you'll get your girl back. If not… What a shame. She's so pretty too." _

Bruce didn't need to hear it anymore and shut it off, much to relief of his butler and friend. God only knew how many times he had watched that thing tonight alone. At least it seemed as if he had finally grown tired of watching the same video over and over again… But now what were they supposed to do?

Barbara spoke first. "Bruce–"

"We have to find her and take Penguin down."

As she should have figured… She was no longer talking to Bruce, but Batman. Not that she would argue with him now, considering that he would her help, Oracle's help, to find Kelsey and keep her from getting murdered.

Alfred had already guessed that was to be the man's next course of action. Still, hostage situations were always tricky to approach. There was a lot of stealth and sneaking around involving and in this case, if anyone found Batman attempting to interfere with Penguin's plans, he would give the word and Kelsey would be dead.

"And your next course of action?"

"Find out where Penguin's hiding her."

Oracle nodded, rolling up to the computer and beginning to look over the CD file, scanning it on her computer. As data started to download onto her own device, she analyzed it before nodding to herself and looking up at Bruce.

"It doesn't seem like this was filmed at the Iceberg Lounge… It had to have been one of his safe houses he had around Gotham. Most definitely one he doesn't use often, considering how much dust was in the background."

Batman nodded. Penguin wasn't stupid – there was no chance that he would actually film his little random video in the same location where he was keeping Kelsey. And while he had an accurate idea of where she might have been being held, he had to be absolutely certain before he started to break in anyway.

Besides, Croc was also involved, which meant that there was a slight possibility of Kelsey being forced to reside down in the sewers. But he ruled that as being unlikely, considering in the video she didn't look to be malnourished or in lack of good hygiene. And while he did factor in the idea that they could have bathed her prior to making this video, he ruled it out since there weren't any signs of her having taken a bath recently.

For now though, he ruled that she was either at the Iceberg Lounge or in one of Penguin's safe houses close by it. He would want to make sure that his hostage was close by him, just in case Kelsey had the chance to sneak out on her own. Not that she would be able to, the woman far too much of a klutz to walk in a straight line, let alone escape captivity.

"Oracle, I'm going to need a layout of the Iceberg Lounge and locations of any of Penguin's safe houses within a five mile radius of his nightclub."

"I'm on it."

Once he saw that she was looking into the data, he turned to the older man standing off to the side. "Alfred."

"Yes, Master Wayne?"

"Find out more about Croc's escape from Arkham. Penguin sent someone to help him and I'm going to find out who. Maybe they can tell us what exactly the Penguin is planning."

"Of course, sir. Anything else?"

Batman just shook his head and took off towards his car. If he wanted to find Kelsey before it was too late, he needed to go now and keep an incredibly low profile while doing so. He could only hope that he wouldn't be too late.

* * *

><p>Kelsey was glaring daggers at Croc as he stood in front of her with a dark look on his face. Once again, he was in her bedroom, only this time he was holding up a pair of racy, form-fitting clothes that Kelsey knew was meant for Penguin's secretaries and not her. But since she was "his guest" and would be here for a while, as Penguin had put it, he wanted her to wash up. He wasn't going to have some filthy, smelly woman walking around.<p>

But that would also mean she would have to bathe in the bathroom connected to her room. Not only were all the windows barred and locked up tight, but there were cameras inside the room, just like the bedroom was. She knew there were people monitoring the cameras and knowing Penguin's men, they were just waiting for her to strip down naked so they could look at her… Iyt was disgusting and an invasion of privacy. She would rather smell like sewer than get undressed why being spied on.

Unbeknownst to her, Croc felt the same. Somewhat. He didn't want anyone else seeing her, especially not any lowly moron the Penguin hired. Those pathetic bastards couldn't even handle a fight with the Batman. They didn't deserve to see his doctor naked. And yet, they still looked, as if they had a right to.

And fuck, did that piss him off. She had only been here for less than two days and whenever the Penguin dragged her out of her room to degrade her and mock the Bat in front of, his lowly thugs would look at her and whisper about her to each other. He heard the jokes they were making about her, disgusting and perverted. Usually one glare and a snarl from him got them to shut up, but that didn't stop him from getting pissed off.

He was getting more and more irritated with the fact that everyone else was watching her. Shit, with all the sexy and underdressed women Penguin had working for him, he would have thought that they would be more interested in them since there were a hell of a lot of them working at the nightclub.

Ah fuck, who the hell was he fooling? He knew why they were looking at her. They all believed her to be the Bat's bitch. They all had their own grudges against the Bat, so of course they would want a whack at her. Just to see what it was like. They were lowly little punks anyway, always taking orders and be subordinates to the real criminals of Gotham. Fucking a bitch by force was the only way they were going to feel dominant over anyone when they were fighting amongst themselves and trying to prove to each other who was the strongest in the bunch.

Croc wouldn't let them touch her though. No, she was his and his alone… because she was his doctor. His entertainment. That was it. Just that. That was the only reason why he didn't want anyone else looking at her.

"I'm not showering, so you can tell Penguin he can have his clothes back."

Kelsey's harsh voice snapped him out of his thoughts, causing him to look back down at the tiny woman. She was sitting down on the bed with her arms folded across her chest, hugging herself tightly as she glared at him.

She knew that she was safe for now, so she didn't have any trouble putting her foot down about this issue. If the cameras were removed from the bathroom, then she would shower without complaint. It was one thing to sleep in a room with cameras; it was an entirely different one to shower with them.

The clothes weren't even an issue at this point. While she had been irritated with the idea of having to wear such provocative clothes at first, she would rather have to wear those than be watched while trying to wash herself up.

"Penguin's orders."

"I don't care."

His eyes narrowed. While he understood why she didn't want to, orders were orders. Besides, if he didn't make her, the Penguin would just send someone else inside that would. Or worse, but he wasn't about to let that happen. He would make her clean up, one way or another.

"Get in the bathroom and take a fucking shower."

"I refuse."

"I'll make you if you don't do it."

She said nothing for a few moments, eyes narrowed at him as a bit of fear pooled into her chest. No, he wouldn't. Croc wasn't out to hurt her. Then again, Penguin was… But would he seriously threaten violence over whether or not she wanted to shower? That was completely ludicrous! Moreover, if she didn't smell like he wanted her to, he and his goons were more likely to stay away from her and she wouldn't have to deal with them as often.

Finally, she took a deep breath and looked Croc in the eyes, who was just glaring back at her with a dark expression.

"… No."

It only took Croc a second to respond and she had not been prepared for it. He suddenly grabbed her and yanked her off the ground, causing her to scream as she was taken over by fear completely. She kicked at him and beat her weak fists on the hand wrapped around him, but he just ignored her useless struggle as he dragged her into the bathroom, shutting the door behind them.

He tossed the clothes on the ground before moving over to the fancy shower that was on the other side of the room. Shit, he did not understand the rich and their hi-tech shit. Did they even need this sort of glass shower with all of its knobs and settings? He found it to be ridiculous, but then again, he grew up dirt-poor, so what the fuck did he know about being rich?

Kelsey cried out in pain when she was suddenly pushed back into the wall near the shower door. But the pain quickly turned to fear when she felt Croc take a rough hold of her shirt and jacket, giving it a hard yank and exposing her bra and bear skin to him.

It took her few moments to figure what was happening. She was too frozen in shock and fear to respond right away, even as Croc was ripping off more of her clothes. He was… stripping her down. She was starting to become exposed, naked…

Oh God. Was he going to-?!

Just as he ripped off the rest of her shirt and jacket and went for her pants, Kelsey screamed violently and ended up slipping down the wall, grunting hard when her bottom hit the floor. But she quickly got over the initial pain when she saw his hands stretch out to her again, causing her to kick up at him as she tried to shove his hands away.

"Stop it!" she screamed in terror. "Stop it! D-Don't touch me! Don't!"

"Would you just fucking hold still already?!" he shouted, finally being able to grab a hold of her pants and yanking it down hard.

It only made her more violent, screaming and struggling louder and harder than before as she feared what was to come. Her mind suddenly flashed back to the first victim Croc had told her about, the woman he had raped and beaten. Was that going to be her fate too? Was he going to do the same? Even though he had said he wouldn't kill her… Oh God, he was already pulling down her pants!

"D-DON'T! PLEASE, DON'T!"

He growled at her. She seriously thought that he was going to rape her? Just how fucking stupid was she?! And he had thought she had trusted him too, considering she would always say that he wasn't a monster…

Oh wait. His track record. She knew all about his past victims. And he had said that he would kill her if he ever got bored of her. All right, yeah, he could maybe see where the fear was coming from, but fucking seriously? He had just said before this that Penguin ordered her to shower and that he would make her if it came down to it.

Once she was stripped of her pants, she was left in only her underwear, much to Kelsey's horror. When she felt his hands pull away from her, she quickly curled up into a ball and hugged herself tightly, shaking violently as she stared at Croc with fearful eyes. But he just stepped back from her and stared at her for a few moments.

It was the first time he had seen so much skin from her. Whenever he had seen her in Arkham, she always so covered up, just like the other doctors. But now… Her smooth skin was exposed to him and he found himself staring at her small hourglass figure.

Wait, what the actual fuck was he doing? Checking her out?! Like some fucking brat in middle school?! He suddenly felt the urge to rip something in half, preferably one of the Penguin's men, before turning them into a stress relieving meal. Taking a deep breath, he shook his head and grabbed the woman's arm, who shrieked in terror as she was suddenly brought to her feet.

"You get in that shower and wash up, you hear me?"

Fearing for her life, she could only nod her head wildly before she was forced to climb into the shower. The door was closed behind her and when she looked back at the man, she was shocked to see that he was standing fright in front of the door with his back turned to her. Wait, he wasn't coming in? She glanced up at the left corner of the room, surprised to see that there wasn't a camera there. In fact, the only camera that was facing the shower where anyone could see her… Croc was blocking its view.

Her eyes widened. Was he… protecting her? Or was it just a coincident that he was standing there, unknowingly keeping her covered from anyone monitoring the cameras from seeing her. Whatever the reason was, she found herself grateful, giving Croc one last glanced before she stripped out of her bra and underwear, quickly opening the door to toss them out of the shower before closing it again to turn on the water.

Croc glanced down at the underwear by his foot before he glanced up at the camera opposite of him. At least this way they wouldn't be able to see her naked… At least not while she was showering.

He didn't know why he kept his back to her. He didn't give a shit about her privacy or not. It wasn't his problem if she was uncomfortable or not. And even though he thought that, he couldn't bring himself to turn around and stare at her while she cleaned herself off after two days of not bathing.

His eyes fell to the clothes he had thrown off to the side. He glared at the articles of clothing, hating the fact that she was going to have to wear them. Fucking Penguin… Did he not have any normal clothes for women? That was a stupid question though, of course he didn't. He owned a fucking nightclub and all of his female workers dressed even sleazier than the dress given to him for Kelsey to wear.

Maybe he could get Kelsey some normal looking clothes the next time he went out. After all, the next bank he wanted him to break into was next to some clothing stores. Maybe he could snatch up a few and-

Croc had to stop himself in utter disgust. Had he actually just thought about doing something for Kelsey? Something nice for her? Something that he didn't need to do at all since it wouldn't benefit him in any way whatsoever?! He growled to himself, hands balling into fists. This fucking woman… He had been right. She had put him on some drugs in Arkham and now they were making him into a fucking lunatic.

Once the bitch was done with her shower, he was going to get some answers out of her about what the fuck she had put him on because this was just ridiculous.

Kelsey couldn't help but to worry when she heard the man growl. Had she done something wrong? Or was he just angry because he had to play the babysitter role? The latter seemed to be the most likely, considering he had been annoyed when he had first come into her bedroom earlier. It wasn't as if she had asked for this though. She was the victim.

The rest of her shower was in silence as she fretted over her situation. She could only hope that Batman would come for her… But she worried that perhaps he wouldn't. She wasn't his girlfriend like everyone else seemed to believe. It had been a horrid misunderstanding and Batman didn't have any real obligation to listen to their demands. She was just one woman… Yes, Bruce had feelings for her, but Gotham was more important to him than her life. Besides, his company was at stake. Penguin wanted to destroy the building and possibly kill so many Wayne Enterprises employees…

There was just no way Bruce would ever let that happen.

Once her shower was over with, she was surprised to see that Croc had handed her a towel. She was actually starting to believe that he was protecting her from the camera's view. It was actually rather… sweet, in a strange way. She didn't think Croc would ever do something like that, especially not for her. Still, she appreciated it and couldn't help but to feel incredibly grateful.

She quickly dried herself off before wrapping the towel around her. As much as she hated to admit it, she was glad that she had finally taken a shower. She hated feeling oiling and dirty, despite the situation given. Carefully stepping out of the shower, she moved to step off to the side as Croc turned around to face her, looking down at her.

Kelsey bit her bottom lip and looked away, suddenly feeling awkward by the staring. Not to mention a bit uncomfortable. Was Croc thinking about… doing _that_ to her? Looking over him, it certainly didn't seem like it. He wasn't displaying any signs or mannerism that indicated he was observing her in a sexual or predatory way.

It was certainly relieving, allowing her to relax when he finally stepped away from her to grab her clothes.

But just as he handed her the skimpy attire, he demanded, "What the fuck kind of drugs did you put me on?"

She blinked as she looked up at the man, confused and startled by the sudden question. He had his eyes narrowed at her, causing her to realize that he wanted an answer and an answer now or else it seemed as if he would try to take off her head. She had no idea what had even brought the question on, but she wasn't in a position to ask. Only answer.

"I-I didn't put you on anything…" she stuttered, holding the clothes up tighter against her body. "I-I merely increased the blood pills Gretchen already had you on."

He was dumbfounded. She hadn't put him on any new medications or had some something to fuck with him. Then again, those blood pills fucked with his appetite sometimes, so that could explain his lack of desire to eat her. But that still explained nothing else with what could have been wrong with him. And it was pissing him off knowing that no one had an answer to give him, not even his damn doctor.

Giving a heavy huff, he shook his head and promptly stormed out of the bathroom. She blinked, flinching back when she heard the bedroom dorm slam shut. Oh great, now she had angered him… Not that she knew what she had done exactly to even make him as angry as he was to begin with. Of course, Croc was a _moody_ man; she would know as she had worked with him for almost half a year now.

She glanced up at the camera again in the corner of the room. Biting her bottom lip, she took a deep breath and turned her back to it, allowing the towel to drop and letting herself be exposed to whoever was watching her. It was completely uncomfortable and she felt violated, but what could she do? Complain? Penguin would just laugh at her and make crude jokes about it.

Unbeknownst to her though as she was changing, Croc had gone into the security room where Penguins goons were and scared them out of the room while Kelsey had changed into that tight-fitting grey dress that hugged every inch of her body. She was clearly uncomfortable it in, pulling and tugging at it in order to cover up more of her body. It didn't work though, her breasts and backside remaining very apparent into the dress

Yes, it was sexy to look at her dressed like that, but it also pissed him off. No one should have been seeing her like this… She was his doctor, his belonging. He had seen her first, he had talked to her first, he had known about her before any of these pigs had – she belonged to him. No one else could look at her… Not even that fucking Batman.

He watched as she glanced up at the camera before walking back into her room. Grumbling to himself, he walked out of the room, giving the men waiting outside and dark look before heading out. He really needed to clear his head and get that aggravating woman out of his mind…

Fuck it. A quick meal would take care of that easily.

* * *

><p><strong> AN: Ohmagawd the struggle with the block is so real right now, guys... Especially since there is so much shiz I'm changing from the original fic and trying to make this one not suck as much as his first one did.**

**That matter aside, I've also been hella busy with college and been getting stressed over some projects/assignments, so that's also killing my drive. The only think that's making this easier is my college's NANO/writing club and the fact I'm not trying to do anything too complicated/complex with Kelsey's role this time. **

**Still. Developing relationships. *weakflails* The challenge, man.**

**The next chapter may take a while longer to get up, I don't know, we shall see I guess. o3o**


	12. Chapter 12

Penguin was incredibly pleased with himself. An entire day had passed since he had delivered Batman his little home video of his girl. To test if his warning had been taken seriously, he had sent out a group of men to break into a warehouse owned by Wayne Enterprises and steal whatever weaponry good they found in there.

The police had shown up, yes, he had expected that, but the Batman was apparently nowhere to be found.

The reporters were having a field day with that one. No Batman spotted at all during a robbery? Albeit, it wasn't some big grand heist, just an easy break in, but still – considering all the robberies he had been performing lately, people would have thought that the Caped Crusader would have been there.

But he hadn't. He must have been far too worried about his precious little squeeze to try anything at stopping his plans.

Oh yes, he had taken his warning to heart. And so long as he had the bastard's girlfriend locked up here, Batman wouldn't even think about touching him unless he wanted to come and collect the woman's body bag by the time he got to her.

Speaking of his guest, the Penguin looked to the woman who was sitting across his desk. She had her eyes narrowed at him while she hugged herself tightly, crossing her arm over her breasts in an attempt to cover herself. Her other hand was still pulling at her the skirt of her dress, trying to cover more of her body, even though it was completely useless. The dress was meant to be tight and short. Why didn't she understand that?

When he slowly started to round his desk to walk over to her, Kelsey stiffened as she glared at him in disgust. How she loathed this man… She had only been trapped her for four nights, but she could already see how much of a detestable man the Penguin was. He wasn't like most of the criminals she had encountered at Arkham. Compared to them, he was rather sane, excluding his great Napoleon complex and obsession with birds, but his attitude and behavior towards her she found most repulsive.

It was almost as if he considered some sort of object, something lesser than himself. Something that he could buy and own. She had first believed that it was simply because she was a hostage, but after observing how he treated everyone working for him, especially the women. And because she was just a hostage to him and was only as valuable as long as Batman kept his distance, he treated her even worse.

Much like how he was doing now.

"Should you really be looking at me like that? I've been keeping you well fed and dressed all nice like since you've gotten here."

She didn't reply, glancing down at her outfit. Is this seriously what he called dressed? She was so uncomfortable that she might as well have been naked. And she knew that the only reason why he forced her to dress this way was so that it would "show her just who was in charge here." As if she needed to be dressed up like this to know that she had little to no power as a hostage.

Kelsey's eyes widened when her head was suddenly titled up, Penguin's umbrella right under her chin as she was made to look at the older man.

"I ain't even met a woman who was much of a tight arse as you, lass… You need to loosen up a bit. Relax… Maybe a drink or two will help you. What you say?"

She pulled her head away from the umbrella. A drink with this man? She knew better than to risk it. It was bad enough he would force her to eat with him sometimes. While he only did it to gloat about how he outsmarted Batman and tried to antagonize her, she never took any drink offered to her from him. She didn't – couldn't – trust him, not even to pour her a drink. Despite having plenty of women of his own and the possibility of him wanting to _that_ to do her being relatively slim, she could never be too careful. She had to play it safe.

"No… No, thank you."

She made sure to at sound polite with her rejection. The man was prone to anger and whenever he grew angry, he also grew violent. She still had a small bruise on her stomach from when he had hit her in retaliation for kicking him when he groped her. She could not risk doing that again.

Luckily for her, he laughed at the refusal, allowing her to let out a small breath of relief as he stepped back a bit to observe her.

What a stiff. She really needed to loosen up a bit since she would be here for a while. He had entertained the idea of threatening her, saying he'll throw her to his men for some fun, but when he had mentioned the idea to Croc, he thought that the giant lizard was going to rip out his heart. He certainly threatened to do so if he even thought about doing that to the little weak woman.

Honestly, it had made him laugh out loud. He had never seen the other get so angry or so hostile over anyone before, especially not some woman. When he had inquired about it, Croc just glared at him before telling him to not touch her and storming off to go perform his next job.

"All right… No drinks then. I should'a figured – you Arkham doctors are always so stiff."

Kelsey just watched him carefully as he slowly approached her again, his appearance much more menacing than before. She stiffened and sat up straight, feeling her body grow cold when he stretched out a hand towards her, his stubby fingers curling around a lock of her hair and bringing it to his face.

"You know, Kelsey–" a tingle of fear traveled down her spine when he said her name "–with a girl of your looks, you could do a lot more than just interviewing the crazies in the madhouse. How about I make you an offer, aye? Have you work somewhere better?"

"… I like my job at Arkham."

"Aw, come on now, don't be like that."

Kelsey's heart nearly jumped out of her chest when she felt his hand move to her neck, sharp nails running against the side of her neck. It felt so disgusting that she felt her stomach turn, having a fairly good idea just as to what the man was thinking by the sadistic smirk that was plastered on his face.

"Come on, I can give you a better pay than that ol' Warden gives you… Could be my own personal doctor, how about it? I could be a fun case… And maybe I'd end up teaching you some things, huh?"

She was quick enough to reach to his hand trailing down to her breast, causing her to shriek and shove away from him. But she had used too much force on her push when she had leaned back away from him, her chair falling backwards as well as her person. She landed on the floor with a hard thud, landing on her hip with her back hitting the chair.

The Penguin had at first been outraged by the fact that she had shoved him away, but when he saw her fall flat on her side, the rage quickly faded away at the hilarity of the sight. He couldn't stop himself from laughing hard, shaking his head when he saw her sit up and give a soft groan in pain from her fall.

Good. The little bitch deserved it.

It only made it all the more amusing when she turned her head to glare at him. "You're the one who pushed me, remember? Karma got you there."

Kelsey said nothing as she moved to stand up, making sure her eyes never left the shorter man. She feared that if she took her eyes off of him for even a second, he would take that umbrella of his and smack her hard across the face. And considering that she had just shoved him, she wouldn't put it past him to do something like that.

Luckily for her, he didn't. She assumed that he must have grown bored with her since he called in two guards and one of his women, this one named Tammy. Kelsey could only imagine what the man called in Tammy for, but she luckily did not have to find out as she was quickly escorted away back to her room.

Once the door was shut and locked, Kelsey gave a soft groan and threw herself onto the bed, curling up into the sheets as she looked at the barred windows. Well, it seemed as though Batman was indeed backing off from Penguin's attempts at robbery. She just hoped that no one would get hurt from it though. But with how the Penguin could be at times, she never knew for certain.

She bit her bottom lip as she rolled onto her back, throwing an arm over her face. Was he looking for her? Was he attempting to rescue her? Had he told the police? She was certain that the police already knew she was missing; someone must have filed a missing person's report. Had Sarah done it? Or maybe it was Bruce? She wasn't sure and had a feeling she wouldn't find out any time soon, considering she was trapped here.

Things could be worse, she had to admit. Penguin's sexual harassment was a grievance, as were some of the looks and gestures she received from some of his lackeys. She certainly didn't feel safe, especially with Penguin's unpredictable temper. Hell, just this morning, someone had said something to anger him enough to shoot out his back leg. And though she had never witnessed it, she had heard whisperings between some of the women that if wasn't pleased with something, he had no problems smacking them around either. Or killing them, if he was pushed too far.

Saner than most of the people she worked with, but that didn't mean Penguin was truly as sane as he believed himself to be. Because of that, she didn't feel safe. Yes, he was keeping her alive to keep Batman at bay, but that didn't mean he would never pull his gun on her and shoot her somewhere that wasn't vital.

Despite her fears, she knew it could be worse. For one, she could actually have to bed that man, the thought alone making her shiver with disgust and fear. She admired his women… somewhat. She didn't know what criminal activities they were involved in, if they were involved in – which she didn't doubt but Kelsey was aware that not all of his women were the lethal type – but still; to actually sleep with that man must have been a challenge in itself. They were probably doing it to make money and have protection, but still; she certainly could never do it.

Also, while she wished for privacy, she did have a decent room with a bathroom next to it. A cage yes, but at least it was a well kept prison cell… She could be sleeping with him or any of his men. Or worse, in one of his God-forsaken torture chambers she had heard rumors about. She would definitely take the little to no privacy over sleeping in one of those terrifying cells.

Surprisingly though, the reason why she wasn't as disheartened about this hostage situation was because of Croc. She never would have thought that she would feel safe with a cannibal, but compared to everything that was going on, she did. Croc was crude, his temper was always hot, and he was always ready to use force and violence when he didn't feel like "putting up with any of her bullshit," as he would sometimes put it.

Still, from what she could observe – which was all she could do with being trapped here and everything with little to do – he seemed rather… protective over her. That didn't seem like the correct word, but it was the best one she had, next to possessive. Whatever the case may have been, she would sometimes catch him out of the corner of her eyes glaring murderously at Penguin's men if they ever made a comment about her. And whenever she showered or changed clothes, he moved himself in between her and the camera, his back always facing her.

It certainly made her feel… somewhat safe. And she was glad that he was acting this like; it was almost kind of sweet in a strange way. She had concluded that he must have been behaving like this because of how they had gotten to know each other these past four months with her as his doctor. Perhaps he trusted her and developed more personal feelings towards her? Something equivalent to a friend? That certainly would mark progress in helping him overcome his misanthropy. Then again, it could have just been him being possessive over the woman he had dubbed at his personal entertainment at Arkham. Either way, at least she was being guarded by someone more than capable of defending himself and others if he wanted to.

Kelsey sat up and rubbed her eyes. She needed to get out of here… As safe as being with Croc was currently – she couldn't believe she actually used the word safe when regarding the cannibal – it was only a matter of time before Penguin deemed her useless and ordered her killed. Or worse. God, she would rather be eaten alive than be forced do anything unspeakable with Penguin and his men.

Glancing over at the barred windows again, she could only hope that Batman, or anyone really, was out there looking for her and she would be out of here before she ended up dead.

* * *

><p>Investigating Croc's cell for clues was the least challenging thing about this case. In fact, it was a fairly simple task to deduce just how he had gotten out. Someone, a woman, had entered his cell and had given in the keys to his chains and collar, allowing him to easily escape the facility and put several guards in the hospital; the others went to the morgue.<p>

But Batman had been able to find a single female guard among the dead, but she had been killed by a stab wound to the neck. Definitely not something Croc would have done. Besides, she had been found dead near the entrance of Arkham and she had been found without her uniform and only in her undergarments.

Someone, a woman that Batman wasn't sure whom, had been the one to bail him out. And since Penguin was behind this entire operation, he knew that it was someone the criminal had hired. One of the many benefits of being king of the underground world. Now he just had to figure out who Penguin had hired.

He only had a last name to go off of, but it was a start. The same woman who had been to Kelsey's apartment was the same one who had broken into Arkham to free Croc – the fingerprints at the asylum matched the ones found in Kelsey's apartment. Sadly, he couldn't identify the woman, only know that she is a female and that she wore Chanel No. 5 perfume. Expensive, meaning that her work was good and that she was paid a heavy sum for her work.

Alfred was already searching through the Gotham Police Department Criminal Database to find just who this woman might have been. Sadly, his butler wasn't having any luck finding a name. Apparently, there were plenty of Ramirezs in the database, both men and women, making the name difficult to trace.

As for Oracle, she had been able to eliminate most of the safe houses in the area, leaving just a two nearby and then the Iceberg Lounge. He didn't actually think the Penguin was foolish enough to hide her there, but he must have gotten overconfident with himself, something that he could use to his advantage. For safe measure though, there was one of Croc's safe houses nearby and he had to be sure that Kelsey was being held up there either.

His hand balled into a fist at that thought of the poor woman. Kelsey… It had been six nights since her disappearance. Was she all right? Was Penguin doing anything to her? She had looked so terrified in that video… But what else could he expect? She was a defenseless civilian trapped with the Penguin, Killer Croc, and a bunch of Penguin's lowlife muscle men who were armed with rifles.

He had to find out what Penguin was up to and where Kelsey was being hidden. Luckily for him, he had been able to hide in the vents of another steel warehouse where his goons were breaking in. These men always had a bad habit of talking about their bosses' plans, no matter who they were working for. Certainly helped him, much like now.

"Is this really even gonna work?

The taller of the two lackeys, who Batman could only deduce was the head of this small gang of seven by the way the other men kept asking questions, just shrugged. "Boss has got it up his ass that this'll do the trick."

"What about the Bat?"

"The hell-?" Then he paused, as if remembering something before shaking his head. "Right, you're the new guy. We ain't nothing to worry about with that guy. Penguin's got his girl."

Batman gritted his teeth together, his hand curling up into a fist. He took a deep breath and relaxed himself, focusing more on the two criminals right beneath him. He kept his attention on the other criminals running around as well, but they seemed to be too busy loading up their car with supplies to even bother thinking about him.

Then again, like the man below him, they all believed that they were safe from any getting taken back to prison.

"How did he manage to do that?"

The other just shrugged. "No idea, but she's stuck with him unless the Batman wants to pick up her corpse." Then he looked around for a moment before leaning in, giving a dark chuckle. "Have you seen her? Pretty easy on the eyes… And Penguin makes her dress up like his secretaries. Nice to look at."

The younger-looking lackey laughed. "Even in a crowd of Penguin's girls?"

"Considering she's not as curvy and got that sort of 'innocent lady' appearance, she sticks out in her own way… That fucking Croc gets in the way though a lot of times, so you can't get near her. Unless you want your head ripped off."

Batman felt his chest swell up in rage. Dirty lowlife thugs… A part of him wanted to take them both down right then and there, but he knew better. He couldn't give himself away or else it would be just like they said. Kelsey would end up dead and only he would be to blame. As much as it sickened him to know that not only was she made to dress like one of the crime boss's girls, but also was being looked by this filth, he needed to remained focus on the objective at him.

Still, he found himself put off by how Croc was her head guard, so to speak, and was even glaring mercilessly at the men who looked at Kelsey. Was he doing it for his job? Or for some other unfathomable reason? Croc was just an animal, but a dangerous one at that. He needed to get Kelsey away from him and everyone else involved with his operation as quickly and swiftly as he could.

"What's he trying to take down again?"

The sudden question snapped his attention back to the two goons, the younger one looking around at some of the steel in the warehouse. He was clearly impressed, or so Batman could see.

"Wayne Enterprises. Boss says that big ugly building is 'obstructing his view of the future' or some bullshit like that. Plans to take it down with a single shot of some sort of bomb he's building."

That was why Penguin was robbing banks and the steel warehouses at the docks… He needed supplies for this bomb he was creating. And he needed Kelsey to keep him from foiling his means of getting said materials. Now the question was how much of the weapon did Penguin already have constructed? Knowing the crime boss, the blueprints were already drafted and had been shipped off to whomever he hired into actually building something like that. It was no simple project, even for someone as capable with engineering as the Penguin.

Slowly, he crawled his way out of the vents and back onto the rooftop. Now that he knew of the Penguin's plans and how Kelsey was currently doing, he only needed to locate her and the woman who had freed Croc in the first place. She could possibly still have a role in Penguin's plan, he could never be too sure. Besides, she had broken the law and needed to be brought to justice. Once he found her, he would go after Kelsey.

Once he was outside of the warehouse, he turned on his ear communicator. "Oracle."

"_Did you find out anything?"_

"Yes." Batman walked forward a bit, taking a look at the Wayne Enterprises tower from where he stood. "Penguin's planning to build a bomb. He's going to take out Wayne Enterprises."

"_What?"_ He wasn't surprised by the shocked voice of hers. Normally, the Penguin's issues were with Gotham as a whole or in other cases, other crime boss's and their own businesses. He had targeted Wayne Enterprises before, but those targets were made on people in the company, not the actual establishment itself.

"I've already planted a tractor on their truck. Keep a look out on where it's heading."

"_You're not going to follow them?"_

"Not yet. I still need to find out where Kelsey is."

"_Well…"_ There was a short pause; he could hear her typing furiously from her side of the conversation. _"I've ruled out two of the remaining houses. Now it just leaves one of Croc's safe houses and the Iceberg Lounge."_

"Don't bother with Croc's safe house. She isn't there."

"_How do you figure?"_

"The men inside the warehouse have clearly seen her before… And they wouldn't stick around any of Croc's houses just to get a look at her." Besides, from how they were talking, it seemed clear to him that Kelsey was being bathed and showered and dressed up to look like the other girls Penguin had at his nightclub. There was no possible way that would be the case if she were trapped in one of Croc's house. "Can you hack into Penguin's security system? Kelsey should be locked away in one of his rooms."

"_Not an issue."_

"Thanks. I'll get back to you soon." He hit the second button on his earpiece, quickly switching over to his butler. "Alfred, how's the search on Ramirez going?"

"_Surprisingly well, sir."_

"Have you found the woman?"

"_Yes, but sadly, only some very basic information on her and an old photo for identification. I'm sending it to you now."_

Batman only needed to wait a few moments before it was uploaded for him to review. Miss Niema Ramirez, age thirty-two. Was born to a rich family before being sent to prison for the murder of one of her father's friends at the age of twenty-one. However, strangely enough, she had been able to get out early and had disappeared since then… And Batman could only guess now that she became a hit man for hire, and a rather expensive one at that if she could afford the type of perfume she wore.

As for the photo… He had seen that face before. In fact, he had just seen it the other day when he was out getting lunch with a client at a high-end restaurant that only took reservations. She had been with an older unknown man. He couldn't hear what they were saying at all, considering how far away they were from his table, and he had only seen her in passing and hadn't paid her too much attention.

That was his opening. Through the restaurant. If he could find her name, he could find her number and track her through her phone. He would be able to arrest her, giving Oracle time to find Kelsey before he went for her.

Batman could only hope that Kelsey would be all right by the time he came for her.


	13. Chapter 13

It had almost been a week since Kelsey had been brought to the Iceberg Lounge. Penguin was rather pleased with himself too, as just the other night, he was bragging to her about how he had already gotten all of his supplies together for the precious bomb he was building. Now it was just a matter of putting it all together, which wouldn't take very long at all.

To celebrate his victory, Penguin and some of his women had gone out to eat somewhere, leaving Kelsey trapped in her prison-like bedroom. Not that she minded at all, she preferred being alone than being with Penguin. Still, she couldn't help but to feel on edge. Croc had gone out again to perform a hit for his boss, leaving her just Penguin's rather repulsive men.

She wasn't stupid. Even though Croc acted almost like her bodyguard and kept himself in between her and the other men here, she knew what they were saying and what they thought about her. And what they most likely wanted to do with her. She was safe when Croc or Penguin was around, mainly because Penguin ordered for them to only keep an eye on her and nothing else. But now that neither of them were here… She was worried.

Kelsey's eyes fell to her dress, making her hug herself even tighter. This wasn't the worst thing Penguin had made her wear, but that didn't make her like it any more. It was a tight blue dress, very form fitting and short. It barely made it past her mid-thighs with her breasts being made apparent with the sweetheart neckline and small sleeves. It was definitely made for a woman ready to go out for a fun night at a club with her friends. But she wasn't ready for that and she certainly wasn't wearing this because she wanted to.

Damn it, how she wanted some regular clothes… She loathed the looks the men would give her whenever she wore these dresses. She knew they would give her those looks regardless of what she wore, but everything just seemed so much worse when she was made to dress like this. And she wasn't like some of Penguin's secretaries who had no issue telling off anyone who looked or touched them in a way they didn't want. Unless the man was the Penguin, but they didn't seem to mind it whenever he did it.

If her life wasn't on the line, she would do the same. But she wasn't like them; she was a prisoner and nothing more.

The door suddenly creaked open. She let out a heavy breath and figured Croc had finally returned from his assignment. She prayed that he didn't smell of blood again… The last time he had come back, it was obvious that he had had a meal before he came back to the penthouse.

Much to her terror though, it wasn't Croc. Instead of his great figure, a group of Penguin's men entered the room. It was six men, four of whom she didn't recognized while the other two she had knew guarded her door during the night shift. They weren't carrying any guns, thankfully, but two of them had bats and she could see one of them had a knife. She turned around completely to face them, her back pressing into the wall. She attempted to remain a calm, neutral face, even when they smiled darkly at her when the door closed behind them.

"Did someone send for me?"

One of her cell guards, Jack, stepped in front of the group. He must have been the ringleader… And the other men looked rather young in comparison to him. She could definitely tell something was amiss and that she was in danger. Jack was smirking down at her, bringing out his knife and swinging it front of him. No doubt telling her that he was the one in control, the one with the power to hurt her and that he would resort to such means if she did anything he didn't like.

"Nah, the boss and Croc are out… Just us. We were watching you from the security room. You looked pretty lonely locked in here by yourself."

She swallowed. It was just as she feared… Hugging herself, she pressed further back into the wall. God, how she wished she could phases through walls or turn invisible… Or at least had the skill to fight any oncoming assailants.

"… I'm perfectly fine."

Oh crap, did her voice come out too high-pitched? It must have since the man's smile just seemed to grow even more as he looked over her.

"Oh, you don't seem fine…" He moved his knife back into its holding place, stepping up closer to her. Kelsey realized that she couldn't push any further into the wall, forcing her to curl up into herself in an attempt to get away from this man. "Come on, me and the boys here will treat you _real_ nice."

"I'm not interested. Please leave."

That only made the men laugh. She started to realize that her situation was getting worse and worse as the men started to crowd around her, her heart starting to race while her hands began to tremble. It was easy to tell what they wanted to do and it frightened her even more to realize that there was little she could do to stop them. She certainly couldn't talk them out of it not could she fight them off. Yes, she had taken a self-defense class back in high school, but that to defend herself against one attacker when she wasn't trapped in a small room.

The man suddenly grabbed her arm and yanked her up to his face, making her pale in terror as his dark face leaned into her face. She felt her stomach drop when his eyes looked over her body, the five men behind him doing the same. Oh God, they wouldn't… They couldn't. They weren't seriously going to-?!

"Gotta say… I didn't think the Bat would have a taste for a little woman like you."

She didn't have time to react to him as she was suddenly thrown back, Kelsey giving out a startled cry when she was thrown. Two men grabbed her arms and held her up by her arms, one of them grabbing the back of her hair and yanking down hard on it. She shrieked in pain, but they just laughed at her. Another man came up to her and seized her chin, giving her a dark look.

"Penguin just wants you for a short while… And once he gets what he wants, he'll have no use for you."

Another man walked over to her. "A shame too. But maybe if he gives up the okay, we can keep you… If you please us. What do you say?"

Kelsey was panicking, her legs trembling wildly. She had to get out of here. She had to find a way to get away! But she knew that she had very little chance of fighting these men off. Especially when three of had weapons. She would never survive a beating, even if they weren't allowed to kill him. She could do nothing…

Except let out a shrill scream and struggle hard.

She should have guessed that would have only provoked them to get started. The second she screamed was the second they threw her done onto the floor. She screamed and tried kicking up at them, but it proved to be useless as one man easily pinned down her arms and two other men was able to keep her legs in place. Complete fear took over her when the men all laughed, Jack getting down in between her spread legs to kneel down in front of her. The other two men who were holding the bats just stood by, observing what the man was going to do.

Kelsey thrashed hard against them, struggling with all her might, screaming and calling for help. It was useless though; no one was coming to help her. The only other people that would be able to hear her would be whoever was watching the security cameras, but she knew that they didn't care about her screaming. If anything, the men who might have been watching were probably getting a kick out of it.

It was hopeless. Absolutely and utterly hopeless. No one was coming to help her. She could only try to fight them off as hard as she could, but even she knew that actually attempting to fight off these harden criminals was impossible for someone like her. She was just a civilian in skimpy clothing and her screams and struggles were only turning the men on. She could tell by the sadistic smiles on their faces that they enjoyed seeing her thrashing, seeing her eyes fill up with fear.

The only thing that halted her thrashing was when he pulled out the knife, bringing it up to his lips and licking across the blade in a frightening manner. She paled when he leaned down, moving the knife to her cheek.

"So… How do you wanna play this, girl?"

She was too terrified to even utter a sound. She could only shake violently, pressing herself back into the carpet, praying for something to just come up and swallow her whole. She would rather die than suffer through what she knew they were going to put her through.

"Now… If you just stay still…" He moved the knife away from her face and slowly trailed it down to her dress. "We'll make sure you enjoy this too."

She opened her mouth to scream again, but a hand slammed over her mouth and kept her cries muffled. Twisting and turning in their grips, trying to get away and break free. It was useless though, especially when she felt the knife cut open her dress down the middle. She screamed harder and trembled even more violently than before, trying to free her legs and kick at the man over her but to no avail.

Jack laughed as he put away his knife again, his hands moving to her ripped up dress. Her eyes widened in horror when he yanked at the two torn parts, exposing her black strapless bra to them. She couldn't even bring herself to scream this time, too frozen with complete fear to even utter a sound.

The one who had a hand clamped over her mouth whistled, licking his lips at the sight of her bra and exposed skin. "Nice rack… I bet the Bat loves to play with those."

Kelsey felt tears starting to pull in the corners of her eyes. This couldn't be happening… This just couldn't be happening! And now, even if she wanted to talk her way out this, it was impossible. Fighting them off was the only option she had left, but she was restrained. Her body wouldn't move, frozen in terror as she realized what was happening to her. What was about to happen to her.

She shut her eyes tightly, hands balling into fists when she felt the man before her tear the dress right down the middle, exposing her body and undergarments to the men in room. She heard more laughter, more dark chuckling, more whistling. This was so… disgusting. Terrifying. And she couldn't move a muscle.

Two hands suddenly clamped over her breasts, making her eyes shoot open as she jerked her head down. More tears streamed down her face as she shook violently, screaming into the hand that muffled her voice. Her legs and arms jerked in a pitiful attempt to break free, but the struggle only seemed to make the men laugh more. She knew that it was what they liked. The struggle, the weak attempts to get away – that was what got them off on this. And she was only making it worse for her by crying.

"Seems like the Bat's girl is a lot more delicate than we thought," Jack chuckled, watching as the two men were still holding her legs down groped hard at her covered breasts.

"Pretty soft too."

One of the men pulled down her bra to expose her breasts completely to them, allowing the men to touch them directly. Dear God, it felt even more disgusting than before… Her stomach turned and she felt like she was on the verge of vomiting. This couldn't be happening. This just couldn't be happening… She didn't want this! She didn't want this at all!

But they didn't care. And when she felt Jack go for her underwear, she knew it was useless. She knew what they were going to do… The only thing she could do now was stay still and just hope that it would go by quickly, that they wouldn't force her to suffer through it for too long. As long as she didn't fight or didn't put much of a struggle, they wouldn't resort to bringing out the bats or the knife. She just had to remain quiet and still and it would be over in a moment. It would be nothing but a horrid dream by the end of it…

Her toes curled up when she felt Jack's hands slip down to her underwear. He merely pulled the band covering her womanhood out of the way, smirking at the sight of what the woman was hiding.

"Well… Isn't that a pretty sight?"

She nearly threw up when she felt his fingers craze against it. But he quickly took his hands away and moved them to his pants, quickly undoing his belt and unzipping his pants. Kelsey forced herself to look away, shutting her eyes tightly as she turned her head, hands balling up into fists.

More laughter. A body pressed closer to hers. There something poking at her lower half, making her tense up as she refused to look at the man in between her restrained legs "I guess I'll go first then. Don't worry, sweetheart, it'll be better than what the Bat can give you, I'll make sure of it."

_Just make it quick,_ she thought. _Just, please, make it quick…_

It never happened though as the door was violently kicked opened, causing her eyes to shoot open while the six men jumped and looked toward the door. The giant man seemed to be frozen in what could only be shock, his eyes dropping down to the woman pinned to the floor. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the men's faces rain in color, but he wasn't even focused on them. At the moment, he could only look at Kelsey.

Her face was wrapped in shear fear and panic. Tears were trailing down her face. Her dress was ripped right down the middle, her mouth was covered, and her breasts were exposed. The man in between her legs already had his dick whipped out and her underwear had been pushed out of the way. It didn't take a genius to figure out just what the hell was going on.

This shouldn't have bothered him. He shouldn't have grown angered at the sight. Hell, anger wasn't even the right word. Rage consumed his entire mind as he let more of the sight sink in, practically seeing red. They… were touching her. They were assaulting her. They dared to think that they could even lay on what was his… And now they had the audacity to actually put their filthy, worthless, human hands on her?!

Croc didn't even realize that a rage-filled rage ripped from his throat, causing the men to panic and release Kelsey as they attempted to scramble to their feet and run. The roar made Kelsey snap out of her fear-like trance, eyes widening when she saw Croc charge at her six assailants. Unable to do anything else, she crawled back behind the bed and hid herself from view, hugging herself tightly when screams of agony started to arise.

The noises… Oh God, she was glad that she had hidden herself. Croc was snarling and roaring like an animal in a fight to the death. The men were screaming even louder than before, Kelsey flinching every time she heard what sounded like bones cracking. Or even breaking. Screams of agony and terror always followed with each crack and snarl. She could only imagine was what happening…

Something hit the wall in front of her, causing her to jump and jerk her head down at the fall object. She had to clamp a hand over her mouth to keep herself from screaming at the sight of the bloody detached arm in front of her. She suddenly felt sick, curling herself up into an even tighter ball. Oh God… Oh God, Croc was-!

Another scream ripped through the air, causing her to shut her eyes tightly as she clamped her hands over her ears. It didn't do as much as she wished. Even though the sounds were muffled and dulled, she could hear the screams, the roars, the cracks… She trembled at the sounds, growing even more terrified when she realized the screams and sounds of bones breaking were dying down. If she wasn't so terrified of what she would see, she would have turned her head to check if it was over.

She didn't have to though. She heard a dimmed footstep close to her, making her open her eyes and look to her right, seeing Croc's… bloody foot there. She slowly raised her head, paling at the sight of his bloody and stained body and mouth. It looked like he had just walked through a shower of blood and guts and – oh God, now she felt nauseous and she had to force herself to look away, terrified and disgusted with the sight.

Croc just stared at the doctor, panting a bit as his rage gradually let his mind. He could see just how terrified she was, the woman shaking like a leaf. He looked back behind him at the ripped up bodies scattered across the floor. He didn't exactly remember what he had done to them… He had just charged at them and taught them a lesson. And now he was left to look at his handy work.

Some body parts were missing, mainly because they were now residing in his stomach. He had ripped off the right side of one of the men's heads while some had suffered from having their entrails ripped out from them. Blood and guts covered the floor, mainly by the door where he had stopped any of them from escaping. Pathetic bastards… If they didn't want him to paint the walls with their blood, they never should have touched her. They were the ones that had asked for this… So he dealt with them accordingly.

Though… He looked back to his doctor, who was still shaking. The one person who claimed that she didn't find him to be a monster probably didn't think that anymore. Not with what he had just done to these six men. But was she seriously more terrified of him when she was almost raped by those bastards? Fuck he had just saved her! She should have been grateful!

His eyes narrowed at the woman as he actually stopped to think about what he had just done. He had actually saved her… He had actually killed six men who were going to assault her. He should have walked away. Or told them to get lost. But no. He was driven to kill them… because she belonged to him. Because he didn't want her… to get hurt because of someone else. Because he had wanted to save her.

Croc growled, feeling disgusted with himself. Just what the fuck was wrong with him?! This bitch was driving him insane! She had to have been doing something! Anything! If it wasn't drugs… It must have been her. She had to have been doing something to fuck with him like this!

"Get up."

Kelsey flinched and looked back at the man, who was glaring down at her. Oh no… What had she done? Was he going to kill her too? She was too overwhelmed with terror to move, just staring at him as she hugged herself tighter, eyes wide with fear as her bottom lip trembled.

It wasn't helping Croc's confused and angry mindset at the moment. Seeing her like that stabbed at his chest and it hurt to see that face. That fear… He hated it. Enraged by his emotions and her slow response, he snarled and grabbed her arm, promptly yanking her off the ground and throwing her over his shoulder. She screamed in terror, pounding and pushing at his back in a feeble attempt to escape.

"P-Put me down!" she begged violently. "Pl-Please! L-Let me go!"

Good God… She reeked of those filthy men because they had just touched her… It stank. He could still pick up her scent, but it was mixed in with alcohol and grime. Filthy, just like those dead men. He couldn't stand it, it was driving him even crazier on top of his swelling emotions.

He had to get rid of it. He had to get rid of it _now_.

Kelsey thought he was going to take her somewhere else, but no; he just dragged her into the bathroom and kicked the door closed behind him, moving over to the shower. She didn't know what to do or how to react, disoriented and terrified as to what the cannibal had in mind. Was he going to eat her too? Kill her right here in this bathroom?

The door to the shower suddenly opened, but Kelsey had zero time to react when Croc pulled her off of him shoulder. She cried out in pain when he suddenly slammed her down against the wall, forcing her to slide down it until she was sitting down and with her back pressed into the cold, hard surface. She was left confused and in pain, trying to figure out what was going on. But she wasn't able to figure it out when Croc quickly turned on the shower, water beating down on them and leaving her even more confused.

"Wh-What're you-?!"

His hands grabbed at the ripped dress still on her body and gave a hard yank, easily pulling the blue fabric off. Kelsey screamed in horror, entire body freezing up when she saw his giant hands go for her bra and underwear next. She threw up her hands and shoved hard at the hand coming towards her chest, using her feet to kick wildly up at him as she tried to get away. He was going to do it! He was going to do what those men were! No! No, she couldn't let that happen!

"NO!" she screamed, struggling violently and not even caring that it was making this giant cannibal furious. "N-NO! D-DON'T TOUCH ME! NO!"

"_Knock it off!_" he snarled. Damn it, what the fuck did she think he wanted to do?! As if he would, especially when she smelled as foul as she did!

He was able to force her hands out of the way, easily grabbing a hold of the flimsy fabric and ripping it off of her body. Kelsey was screaming even more violently than before, her tears coming back as she realized that she was completely exposed to him. Terrified of what was going to happen, she shoved away from him and turned her back to him, curling up into a ball as she started to sob in terror.

Croc just threw her clothes off to the side before he pressed his face into her bare back. He felt the woman cry out, but his hands when to her arm and shoulder, holding her in place as he sniffed. Water and her scent… And those men were still there. Those disgusting men were still there, tainting her delicious aroma. He couldn't stand it… It was driving him mad with rage. He felt like he was losing his fucking mind. He hated their scents, he had just seen Kelsey almost be raped by a bunch of worthless lowlifes, he had actually wanted to protect her, she made him feel so fucking strange and he was left confused and outraged…

Maybe he was even crazier than everyone thought.

Kelsey stiffened when she suddenly felt sharp teeth sink into her naked back, a harsh cry escaping past her lips. But she couldn't break free, Croc holding her in place as he gnawed at her skin, suckling down her blood. She shut her eyes tightly, whimpering in pain as she held her hands to her chest.

He was biting her again… Just like the first time, there was pain… but it wasn't agonizing. She didn't feel like she was dying or going to be ripped apart any second. Fear still coursed through her, but she didn't scream or attempt to pull away. She just shut her eyes tightly, hoping that he would be done soon. And maybe even leave her be.

Once again, his teeth didn't touch her bone. He didn't get that urge whenever he normally bit into someone… No desire to rip into their skin and rip them apart. He didn't want to eat her or devour her whole and make her suffer like that. He could only bring himself to nibble at her skin while he sipped her sweet, delicious blood that carried her scent, that didn't smell like those bastards… It was hers and hers alone.

Kelsey hissed when he pulled away from her back, slumping against the wall as water started to beat on her back. She still felt Croc's hands on her body, but they didn't move and simply kept a hold of her. His tongue pressed against the wounds, licking up the excess blood the shower water had started to wash away. She could only shiver and close her eyes, trying to ignore the hot mouth against her skin.

He glanced up at her, seeing that she was still trembling a bit. Slowly, he pulled away from her and took his hands from her body, eyes narrowing at the woman. Fuck… He couldn't believe that the slight pain in his chest was still there. An emotion he recognized, but didn't want to admit that he had anymore. Shit, the last time he had felt this way, he had been just a kid and his aunt had been beating the hell out of him for just existing. He was in the thirties now… He shouldn't have been feeling… _guilt_.

Fuck, how this woman pissed him off. He always felt things he hardly ever felt around her. He wasn't used to it; he didn't want to be used to it either. He had no reason to ever feel guilt, especially when it regarded a stupid little human woman like her… But that didn't stop his chest from aching, which only made him angrier with both her and himself.

"What…?"

Kelsey looked back at the man, eyes widening in fear when she saw the dark look he was giving her.

"What the fuck did you do to me?"

She didn't know how to respond, mainly because she had no idea what on earth he was even asking! Done to him? Nothing! She had never done anything to him! He was the one who had made her his doctor, kidnapped her, stripped her naked, and then bit her! What was he talking about?! What did he want he to even say?!

"I shouldn't give a shit about you," he growled. He didn't know why he was talking or why hew as admitting anything at all to her. He just needed to say something, anything to anyone who would listen to him at the moment. And this woman was his doctor; it was her fucking job to session him and listen to him gripe while she tried to "cure" him. "I shouldn't care at all about you… I should hate you, just like everyone else… And I don't."

Her eyes widened at the statement. Croc… didn't hate her? He didn't view her the same as everyone else? No… No, impossible. He was a misanthropist; he hated everyone, no exceptions ever. At least that was what she believed. But seeing how he was still glaring at her, expecting an answer, she coughed and cleared her throat. If she wasn't naked, she would have turned to him, but instead, kept her back to the man.

"I… How long have you felt like this?"

She heard him give a humorless laugh. "You're really going to session me now?"

"… You seemed like you wanted to speak… S-So I'll… listen." Mainly because she feared he would try to rip her throat out if she remained silent.

The air was tense as neither of them said anything. Kelsey had thought for a moment that she had angered him, causing her to peek over her shoulder at the criminal. But his head was down and his eyes were shut, clearly trying to form together his thoughts. Or at least trying to think of something that would shut her up, in this setting, she wasn't entirely sure.

But then his head titled back up, his toxic yellow eyes locking with her hazel ones. She swallowed and turned away, unable to handle the gaze right now. Not when she was so… exposed and vulnerable. Still, he hadn't done anything… yet.

"Too long," he finally growled. "Too long… And I can't fucking stand it." Seriously… This fucking doctor was driving him mad and he had only been with her for less than an hour tonight. It seemed as though every time he would talk to this fucking woman – even when she was interviewing him – he would feel like this: confusion, angry, and never wanting to kill her. It was driving him insane.

Kelsey stiffened when his hands grabbed at her shoulders again, his head resting against her back. "C-Croc?"

"The fuck have you done to me…?"

"N-Nothing, I-I swear, I h-haven't-!"

"Then _why_?!" he snarled, gripping her tighter. "Why…?! You make me act funny… and I hate it. Stop confusing me and making me act different around you. It's pissing me off. Knock it off or…" He couldn't finish his threat, which only made him even more frustrated with himself. He should have been to tell her that he would kill her, but he couldn't say it. Mainly because he knew it was a threat he would never follow up on.

Kelsey, though frightened, could see why the other was confused. All his life he had hated humanity, but now she had come into the picture. For whatever reason unknown to the both of them, he did not hate her. He didn't want to kill her… He had never had a friend in his life, only allies, so perhaps that was how his mind perceived her. A friend of his. Maybe… that was what why he had saved her from those men. Why he didn't want to kill her.

At the moment, she wished that they were at Arkham so she could actually session him on this. It could have been groundbreaking, to say the least. But that wasn't important now. Especially not when she was naked and alone in a shower with a cannibal. She needed to calm him down, appease him and make him believe that nothing was wrong with him. That what he was feeling wasn't something bad or wrong. It would definitely help her in the long run.

"I… I'm sorry I'm… making you feel this way," she murmured softly, glancing at him. "I'll… try not to make you… feel like this anymore."

Well, she certainly wasn't doing a good job on that now… He growled within his chest when he felt that fucking guilt creep into his chest again. Was it really her doing this all of this? Was she really doing it on purpose? He guessed not since she seemed just as confused about his feelings too.

Fuck, just what was happening to him?

When he removed his hands from her body, she blinked and looked up, seeing that he had stood up and stepped out of the shower. She titled her head, using the wall for support as she slowly stood up and watched as he left the bathroom. Had she made him even angrier than he already was?

He came back in again, but only to drop what she could guess were clothes and a towel on the floor. He disappeared back into the bedroom again, leaving her to simply finish up her shower. Kelsey swore she could hear him doing… something in the bedroom, but she didn't know what nor did she want to know.

Once she was finished her shower, she dried herself off with the tower Croc had thrown her. At least he was considerate enough to actually give her a towel and put her clothes right next to it… Wait, what clothes did he even give her anyway? She glanced down at what was on the floor, eyes widening when she saw what appeared to be a t-shirt and sweatpants.

He… brought her normal clothes. And normal underwear. But where had he gotten these? Penguin was the one who always provided her with clothes and they were usually skimpy dresses he had his women wear whenever he went out. Or for whenever he wanted them to dress nice for him, which was more often than not. Had Croc found these? Had he stolen them when he had gone out on one of his assignments?

Once she finished drying herself on, she dressed herself. The sweatpants were a little big, but the shirt was a nice fit. As for the underwear, the bra was a size too small and the underwear was a little tight, so she ended up not wearing the bra. Not that it was really necessary, considering the shirt was a dark blue and not fitted. Thank God, because she was sick of fitted clothes.

Kelsey wasn't sure what to do after she had dressed. She feared to go back out into the bedroom. Those men were probably still lying on the ground, blood and guts and body parts everywhere… Dear God, it was just making her nauseous to even just think about it. But she couldn't just stay in here forever… Maybe the door was still open and she could run out into the main hall. She wouldn't try to escape, oh no, she knew better than to do something so foolish.

With nothing else to do at that point, she took a deep breath and walked over to the door. But her hand stopped at the handle as she debated with herself. What if the door wasn't open? Croc wasn't stupid; he wouldn't leave it open… Maybe she should just quickly peek out at the door and if she saw it was closed, duck back into the bathroom quickly. She just knew that she could not look at the fate of those six men.

But when she was opened the door though, there were no bodies, no limps, and no guts anywhere to be found. Just dried up bloodstains covered the floor and the walls. It still made her stomach clench, but it wasn't as disturbing as when she had seen the left over bloodbath of Croc's work. Had… he cleaned it up? Was that why he had left?

She looked over at the door and saw that Croc was leaning against it, his arms folded across his chest. She stiffened when he looked up at her, his eyes narrowed. Not sure what she should do, she awkwardly entered the room, but she didn't move away from the bathroom door. She just bit her lip and hugged herself, looking down at her feet. She felt… awkward. A bit scared too, but mostly awkward and unsure of what to do.

He… had cleaned up. He had cleaned up the room, gave her this change of clothes, saved her from those six men… Kelsey looked up at him with wide eyes, swallowing as she stepped more into the room. He really did see her differently than everyone else, even though neither of them could truly understand why. But even if she didn't know why, that didn't mean she was any less grateful.

"U-Um…"

His eyes narrowed at her. "What?"

She stiffened a bit at the dark look, but took a deep breath to calm herself down. Croc wasn't going to do anything to her… If he had wanted to hurt her, he would have done so in the shower. But all he had done there was bite her and it wasn't as bad as it could have been. And she knew how painful and agonizing it could be… She had heard those men screaming before.

"I… I wanted… Um…" The look on his face was enough for her to understand that he was getting irritated, so she quickly calmed herself down and tried again. She did not want to be yelled at or anything like that because she had made him angry. Again. "Th-Thank you. F-For the clothes and… and for saving me."

Croc didn't say anything. He could only stare at her with a blank expression, yellow eyes wide as they locked on the woman. Did she… just thank him? Sure, he had been "thanked" before, but that was usually in the form of sarcasm or in cash or some other sort of payment. Never with the sweet sincerity that Kelsey had in her voice, never with someone looking at him with a kind and honest face.

His hands balled up into fists as he looked away, growling a bit. Damn it, that face… She looked… kind of… Just different. He didn't know how to describe it. It wasn't her same neutral face or a face of fear. Fuck, it was making him feel weird. Not guilt, but something else. Something that made him confused and made his chest tighten a bit, but not in anger or guilt. Of course, he was growing frustrated due to the feeling, but that was a different matter.

When he remained silent, she figured that she had gotten it wrong. Maybe he didn't do all of this because he wanted to. Maybe Penguin had ordered him. Quickly, she said, "I-I know it-it's probably just your job, b-but still… I-I… J-Just… Thank you."

That pissed him off a little. She thought this was part of his job now? He shook his head and growled out, "I wouldn't save your sorry ass just because Penguin ordered me to."

"Eh?"

But she froze up when he suddenly stalked towards her, a murderous look on his face. She stiffened and pale, unable to do anything when he suddenly moved to stand right in front of her, his hand coming up to roughly grab her by the chin, forcing her to look at him. She gasped as her hands shot up to hold onto his wrist, trembling a bit as he held her in place. But he only stared at her, eyes narrowed at her terrified face. So… even though she thanked him, she was still afraid of him. Then again, she had just seen him kill six people… Maybe now she thought of him as a monster?

His chest tightened in pain at the thought. Damn it! The fucking woman… What was she doing to him? There was just something about her… He didn't want her to think of him as a monster, for whatever reason. She had been the only person to ever say he wasn't one and he believed her… But with this, she probably thought like the rest of humanity now. He was a freak, a monster, and she was scared. And for whatever reason, knowing that hurt.

"What?" he growled, hand holding her tightly. "Scared of the ugly monster that might eat you?"

"I-I d-don't think y-you're a monster…"

His eyes widened. Wait, she didn't think that? Even after all of this shit?!

"… You… don't?" he said in a shocked voice.

"N-No…" she whimpered out, trying to shaking her head as best as she could. "D-Didn't I-I say before? I-I'll n-never think of you… as a monster… I-I wouldn't ha-have thanked you i-if I thought that…"

That threw him off guard. She still didn't think he was a monster? She… still saw him as someone who was the same as her? A human? But she was afraid. He could clearly see that in her eyes! She was terrified of him as he had her in his grasp! If he really wanted to, he could snap that little neck of hers and kill her easily. She should have been scared. She should have hated him like the rest of humanity did.

And yet, even now… She didn't. She treated him the same. She saw him as… an equal, so to speak. Not just as a patient, not some sort of freak, not a monster… Just another person like her. That didn't make any sense. He was a monster. He had just murdered six guys right in front of her and yet she still thought them the same?! The bitch was fucking insane. Maybe she was the one who needed to be committed…

So, even though he knew she was out of her mind, why did hearing that make his chest feel lighter?

He snarled and pushed her back, Kelsey letting out a little cry as her back hit the wall. She ended up losing her balance and falling the floor with a hard thud. Croc just stared at her with narrowed eyes, the doctor looking back at him as she held her hands tightly to her chest. Was he angry with her again? Should she apologize?

Just as she opened her mouth to speak, he growled and shook his head. "I got work to do… You just stay here and try to stay out of trouble." Though, with her new outfit and the fact that his murder of the six men was caught on camera, he doubted that any of Penguin's other worthless goons would actually attempt anything against her. And if they dared, their fate would be the same as the men whose bodies he had thrown down in the torture pits. That place certainly made good storage, he would give Penguin that.

Kelsey could only nod frantically before Croc walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him and locking her inside. Once he was out of sight, she let out a heavy breath, rapidly inhaling and exhaling as the stress left her body. Dear God, those had been the most stressful, intense, and frightening moments of her life… She never wanted to relive them ever again.

Once she was able to calm down her rapidly beating heart, she glanced down at her clothes. Even though they didn't fit properly, she was glad that she was no longer wearing Penguin's skimpy attire. Still, she had been surprised that Croc had got her clothes like these. Were they the first things he happened to find? Did he deliberately pick them out? Even the underwear wasn't very "sexy," so to speak…

Whatever he did, she was glad that they were at least comfortable cotton. She knew Penguin would make her change into those other clothes again the next day, but at least she had these for now. The men wouldn't really look at her as much once they saw her looking like a typical slob.

But she felt safe, even if she had to wear those clothes again. Croc… She believed that he would protect her. He certainly had just now. It was strange; she shouldn't have felt safe with a cannibal around, but she did. He was the only one who could and would protect her and in this case scenario, that was enough for her.

So long as Croc was about, she, surprisingly, felt that she would be all right.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: UGGGGGGHHHHHHH... This fic, my NaNo project... I've hit the biggest wall with this story, I swear. Makes me sad, I can only right so many words a day and weh~ Just trying to reach the 1667 target word count per day thing now, since my muse for this fic has kind of gone down the crapper. So sad... But oh well~ Imma keep choo-chooing along and try to reach 100k by the end of the month (not gonna happen probably but it's a goal!)**

**ALSO, I debated on whether or not I should post this full version of this chapter to FF or not, but I figured that it was okay... The content is mature, sure, but not super graphic or explicit, at least I felt. At least not yet anyway; those parts come later in the story. And I will NOT be posting the full explicit sex scenes and such here due to it violating the rules (cuz I actually try to follow the rules here now; gotta respect the limits).**

**HOWEVER, that doesn't mean the full version won't be available to read elsewhere! Just go to my Ao3 account and this story will be there too and you can read the graphic shiz there whenever I start writing those parts. ^^**


	14. Chapter 14

As Croc figured, Penguin was pissed when he found out that he had killed six of his men without his permission. Not that Croc actually gave a shit. He was more annoyed with the fact that he had been dragged into the man's office when he had returned and was forced to listen to him gripe about how he lost six good men because of him.

Good men? That made Croc both laugh and growl at the notion. There was nothing good about those men, even regarding their skill level as workers. They were grunts and easily replaceable. Besides, they should have known better than to lay their hands on his doctor… Bastards deserved it. And if Penguin wasn't paying him a fine sum of money, he probably would have done the same to this fat bastard too.

"Not only do you go off and kill sex men, but you also made her dress into such ugly attire? You know where I keep clothes for women."

That was another thing that pissed him off: Penguin's bitching about the attire Kelsey was wearing. So what? He had gotten her some decent clothes and she was no longer walking around looking some sort of prostitute. As sexy as she did look in that, he didn't enjoy seeing her dressed like that. Especially not in front of a bunch of moronic grunts.

"Didn't think about it."

"You think I'm an idiot?"

Croc wanted to say yes, but decided against it. Instead, he just chose to glare at the crime boss, leaning back against the wall with his arms folded across his chest. Shit, he had so many things he would rather be doing right now, but no. Instead, he was stuck here with this angry bald fat man and was forced to listen to his stupid bullshit.

Penguin shook his head. Damn it, he shouldn't have left that woman here alone. Women were always causing trouble and he should have figured some of the men wouldn't be able to keep their hands to themselves. Still, he never would have expected Croc to come bursting through the door and ripping the men apart.

He had to laugh at that though. The surveillance footage had certainly been something to look at and observe with a more serious eye. He could still remember the look on the monster's face when he first entered the room and saw the woman on the floor. It was comical: the cannibal who hated people actually saved some human woman. And then in the shower too – he couldn't hear Croc, but he could tell that he was telling the hostage something.

A small smirk came up on his face as Penguin leaned back into his chair, making Croc's eyes narrowing at the look. "What?"

"Never would'a thought you'd get so defensive over some little human woman… Got feelings for your doctor, Croc?"

His face twisted into an enraged expression, which made Penguin chuckle to himself. Oh, it was far too easy to get this man angry. And he had noticed that if did ever concern that woman, he would get all defensive and bent out of shape… It was certainly fun to push his buttons and watch him squirm like a snake. And knowing the man couldn't do anything to him since he wouldn't get his pay otherwise, messing with him was even more fun.

Croc growled at the other, his entire body stiffening up. This fucking bastard… Feelings? Feelings?! For _that_ woman?! He was nothing like that bimbo Harley and how she was all mushy over Joker! All humans were just food to him. He would never have feelings towards such stupid and worthless creatures.

His hands balled up into fists. No. Almost all humans were food to him. All but… her. He couldn't actually bring himself to eat her in the times he had in her his grasps. He should have wanted to do nothing more than rip the flesh off of her bones, but he didn't. Just thinking about it made him feel… weird. Disgusted? Angered? Outraged? He didn't know, but he could never bring himself to actually do something like that to her.

But feelings? Never. Impossible. It was just impossible for him to ever feel anything towards any human. He hated people. He had always hated them, just like they hated and loathed him. They all rejected him, called him a freak, a monster…

But that woman never did. She said… she never found him to be monstrous. That she saw him as an equal. That she would never think of him or view him as everyone else had seen him his entire life. Even after he had murdered those six men, she still didn't believe that he was a monster. She still thought of him as a human, even if he looked like a fucking freak.

He growled and shook his head. "Kelsey's nothing special; those guys knew better than to touch her while we still haven't finished the Bat yet."

Penguin raised an eyebrow. Did he just hear what he thought he heard?

Croc noticed the look, his eyes narrowing. "If you got something to say, spit it out."

"You actually called the lass by her name… Sure you ain't going soft on me towards the lady?"

Croc stiffened. He… referred to her by her name. It shouldn't have been that big of a deal. It shouldn't have mattered. But it did. Of course it did. He didn't care about humans and he never bothered to address them by their names, unless they were freaks like him. But Kelsey wasn't a freak. She was just a normal human doctor that didn't think him to be some sort of monster, someone she just wanted to help.

But… he called her by her name. Subconsciously. He didn't even think about it. He just addressed her by her name. Not as "that woman" or "that bitch." But as Kelsey. He had given her an identity, addressed her as who she was, her person. No. No, that wasn't right. She didn't matter enough for something like that! She was just some stupid bitch that happened to be his doctor! Nothing more than that!

Penguin laughed again. Poor Croc; he was so confused and distressed by all of this that it was showing on his face. Along with flashes of anger and rage that boiled in his yellow eyes. While it was fun to mess with a man in love, he had bigger issues at him. Besides, he couldn't let Croc's silly little crush get in the way of his plans. They still needed that woman here and he didn't need Croc going all soft on him.

He waved his hand at the other. "All right, we're done here, go fret about your little lover somewhere else."

"_She's not my little lover!_" Croc snarled, outraged by the notion.

"Yeah, yeah, I hear you, just go."

Croc didn't need to be told twice, storming out of the man's office in a fuming rage. He could hear the Penguin chuckle, but it only made him even more infuriated than he already was. In love?! With Kelsey?! Never! He would never bring himself so low! She was just a worthless human, she was nothing special, no one important. He didn't care about her. She wasn't important!

He stopped walking once he reached the door to travel down to the sewers. His hand was resting against the door, ready to push it open, but he could only stare at his large deformed hand. His monstrous hand that matched his appearance tenfold. He was a freak. Everyone thought so… but her. Everyone but her.

And because she felt that way, because she had convinced him that she was someone he could trust… He couldn't kill her. He felt weird around her. He didn't understand any of his feelings, just being mad and confused and hating her, but at the same time, never wanting to kill her. It didn't make sense. If he hated something, he caught rid of it. It should have been the same with Kelsey.

But it wasn't. It was never the same… Not with that woman.

Croc growled and pushed the door open, storming into the sewers. He didn't have any… romantic feelings toward that woman. He had never had romantic feelings for _any_ woman before and he wasn't about to start with a bitch that drove him insane. She was no one special. He just didn't want to kill her because… Because…

Ah fuck, it didn't even matter. He just didn't want to kill her. Especially not right now where she was important for Penguin's stupid project. Once it was over, he would take her back to his laid and figure out what to do with her then. Maybe he was just frustrated because maybe he really did want to eat her, but couldn't because they had to keep Batman at bay.

Fuck it all. He had to get his mind off of this retarded bullshit before he killed another one of Penguin's workers. Maybe he would catch another meal tonight to get his mind off of that woman. He was tired of thinking about her, since all she seemed to do was frustrate that shit out of him.

Once she was out if his head, maybe he would actually be able to think clearly and figured out what the fuck was actually wrong with him.

* * *

><p>Niema sang softly to herself as she brushed her hair in front of the vanity's mirror. Because of Penguin's nice paycheck, she didn't need to worry about working for a little while. Which was nice, since every woman needed a little relaxation and a break every once in a while. And since it was a Tuesday evening, she didn't need to actually be anywhere or attend any parties for anything. Being high class could be a drag sometimes when she just wanted rest.<p>

_Oh well_, she thought to herself as she reached over to look at the new perfume bottle she had this evening. Chanel No. 5 – she didn't know a better brand. Expensive, sure, but absolutely perfect. It usually made the men swoon, which was probably a good thing since most of her targets tended to be the rich men anyway. Not that she cared or minded, so long as she got paid the right amount of money.

She let out a small sigh just as she started to start brushing the other side of her hair. But then she heard something. It was very faint, very soft, almost like… a footstep. Two. Three. Someone was in her room. Had someone sent an assassin to kill her? They had to have been joking… She was one of the best in the business. They would need someone like Deadshot to kill her, but even then, it wouldn't be that easy.

Still, she had to play the part of the idiot. Setting down her brush, she stood up and moved over to her closet where she kept her some of her weapons. It was probably safe to go with the clock she hid in her black jacket, but getting a knife didn't seem like it would hurt either. Especially if the person in the room got close enough to her. If they had just wanted to shoot her, they would have done so by now.

While she pretended to rummage through some clothes, she could hear the person getting closer and closer. Her eyes fell to the floor, hoping to get a look at the shadow they might have been casting. Just as they grew closer, their shadow starting to peek into her view, she took a hold of the gun with her right hand and the knife with her left.

And the second she felt them come up right behind her, she quickly turned around and pointed the gun at the intruder, but he seemed to have anticipated it and knocked it right out of her hand, causing her to hiss out in pain before the knife was smacked out of her left hand as well. She gasped when a hand came up to grab at her neck and shove her hard into the wall, making her hiss out as she glared at her attacker, her hands clawing into his wrist.

Batman, huh? She should have figured the Dark Knight would have shown up in her bedroom once… Though she would have preferred it if he was tied up and begging for mercy, like she did with most men she managed to wrangle into her room.

She smirked as her eyes narrowed him. "So… Is breaking and entering into a lady's room always been your style?"

"I don't have time for games, Niema."

She laughed, shaking her head when he finally let go of her neck. But he didn't move from his spot, so she just leaned back against the wall with her arms folded across her chest. Not much she could do in her pajamas, not unless she got around the man and went for the gun by her dresser. But she wasn't in the mood and decided to just watch the man before her, who was clearly pissed about something.

"So what brings you to my place? Lonely?"

"What can you tell me about Penguin's plans?"

She raised an eyebrow. Penguin's plans? Fuck if she knew… All right, no, she did know a thing or two, but she wasn't about to tell him anything. She wasn't about to become a squealer and have a bounty possibly be put on her head. Penguin was always one to hold a grudge.

Giving a soft sigh, she flipped her hair and stepped around the man, moving over to her bed. "Sorry, Batman, can't help you."

"That's not what I wanted to hear."

"Well, that's all you get to hear. Now move it along, big boy, this lady has to get to bed."

"Niema."

She let out a heavy huff and turned her head to the man, resting her hands on her hips. Now the great detective was just getting to be annoying. Then again, when a man's precious little girlfriend was missing, she could only imagine that he would have a stick up his ass about something. But it was none of her business. She had finished her assignment with Penguin, so whatever Batman wanted, he wouldn't be getting from her. Unless he had payment.

"When a lady says no, she means no. So I think you should leave before I make you."

His eyes narrowed at her as he stepped closer to her. She rolled her eyes at the intimidation attempt. How many people had done that to her before? Well, she could give him props for at least being the most aggressive looking out of the rest of him. Batman wasn't one to mess around and she had seen his work… Much more impressive, since he seemed to do it all on his own. She found the police to be pretty much useless compared to him. Hell, without Batman, the city would have been obliterated by now.

"I know you murdered the guard when you helped Croc escaped, Niema."

Ah, so he knew that had been her doing. So what though? She broke in… And maybe took a life, but that was because the woman decided to fight her. She originally was just going to knock her out, but accidents happened and he couldn't blame her for that.

She laughed, pushing her hair back. "Oh? And just what are you going to do? Arrest me? Send me to Arkham? I'll just break out."

"I'm bringing you in, regardless. But first, tell me what you know about Penguin's operation."

She scoffed and turned away, walking over to her vanity. She wished that she hadn't showered or changed out of her normal clothes for the day. It would certainly make a lot of things easier… But in order to get out of here, it looked like she would have to make some sacrifices. Not that it mattered much to her, considering it wasn't as if Penguin could ever trace it back to her.

And if he somehow did, oh well. She had other rich clients that liked to hire her and give her nice sums of money for her work. Best part was that they knew better to put their filthy little hands on her.

"He wants to blow up Wayne Enterprises," she said simply, unaware that he already had this information. "That's why he had made find out about your little girlfriend…" She turned to him and gave him a small, cocky smile. "Should have kept her hidden better, don't you think?"

His eyes narrowed at her.

Niema had to let out a small chuckle before she turned away from him. "But I can't give you much other than that. Just that he's going to make some big bomb and he's building it somewhere downtown."

"Where?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

He said nothing as he watched her grab her dark purple silk robe and tie it around herself. She could see him glaring at her in the mirror. Geez, he was no fun at all, was he? She was just teasing him a little. He needed to relax.

"Some building downtown. An old shoe factory, but that's all I know and all I will tell you… Happy now, Mister Great Detective?"

Batman merely nodded as he watched her open her vanity drawer. He was a bit suspicious as to why she was cooperating so easily. Then again, she was just someone for hire and never seemed to care too much about her clients after she had been paid… Not that it would do much for her, since he still had to turn her in. He knew she wouldn't come quietly; assassins were the next the type to go without a fight.

But just as he took a step forward, she turned to him with a gun drawn, eyes narrowed at him.

"Sorry, Batman, but I'm not going anywhere… Try again next time."

Before he could move, she threw smoke pellets down on the ground. He quickly stepped back and shielded his eyes, growling to himself when he heard footsteps before something shutting. He backed out of the smoke just as it started to fade away, looking around the room for the young woman. But she was nowhere to found, the room completely empty… with the balcony door wide open.

Damn it, she had gotten away… But he couldn't focus on that at the moment. Now that he knew where Penguin was building the bomb, he only needed to get to Kelsey now. Barbara was still trying to find her exact location, but he had been grateful to know that it had been narrowed down to the west side of the Iceberg Lounge.

He knew he would have to be as quick and as stealthy as possible. Penguin would no doubt have her guarded heavily, wherever she was being kept at. If anyone saw him or suspected he was there, Penguin would be alerted and Kelsey would be killed. And God only knew exactly what the man would do to her. He was a sadist and he enjoyed watching his victims squirm.

And there was still Croc to deal with too. For all he knew, Penguin would just send Croc to wherever Kelsey was being hidden and have him eat her, only to give him her left over bones. Damn it, he loathed how he had his hands tied, but he knew he needed to be patient. As soon as Kelsey was safe, he would alert Gordon about the bomb and they would both head over to that factory to shut down Penguin's operation.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he received an incoming message from Oracle. Quickly, he shook himself out of his tense state an answered.

"Oracle."

"_Well, I found the exact room you're looking for,"_ she said, giving a small huff as she typed away on her keyboard. _"Kelsey's room… It's close to Penguin's office though. Only about a few doors down the hallway. And as far as I am aware, there aren't any large vents leading into it."_

"So I'll have to break in right through the front door."

"_Seems like."_

He nodded to himself. That wouldn't be a problem getting in… It was just a matter of keeping everyone else away from Kelsey until he got there. "Have you found the location of the tracker I planted?"

"_Yeah, it stopped by that old shoe factory. A good location to set up a bomb, especially since they're aiming for Wayne Enterprises." _

Good; it matched up with the same location Niema had given him. He didn't have time right now to run around to different locations. Not when he was so close to getting Kelsey out of this forsaken mess. After this, he could never be near her again when he was dressed like that.

"Can you give me the exact address of the closed-down shoe factory?"

"_I'm sending it over now." _

"Hold on to it; I'll need you to send it to your father once I finish up with Kelsey."

"_How long will that take?"_

"Once you said me Kelsey's location, I'm heading over to the Lounge now."

"_Got it."_

Just as she said that, Batman disconnected the link. He only had to wait a few moments to receive both the address and the map to Kelsey's location. It would only be a matter of time before he got her out of there. Before he finally saved her from that hellhole of a nightclub. Though, it was his fault that she was even there in the first place.

Did she blame him for it? Did she also find him at fault? He wouldn't be surprised or upset if she did… If he had just kept away from her, if he hadn't been overcome with emotion, if he hadn't held her against him… She would still be at home. She would be safe. She would be far away from Penguin, from Croc, from all of those people.

But no. He had done this to her. He had allowed Penguin to take advantage of his weakness and exploit it. He could only hope that once he reached her, he would be able to manipulate situation. Force Penguin to believe that she was not his lover and no one important to him. Just an unfortunate civilian that had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

He shook his head of such thoughts. He would handle it when he got there. Right now, he needed to focus on the primary objective. He needed to save Kelsey.

He was going to get her out of this, even if it cost his life.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Ugh, this is taking forever cuz I'm running out of steam... But whatever - I will reach my goal of 100k words by the end of the month for this fic! U But of course it won't happen for a while cuz holiday is coming up. Time to stuff my face. :B**

**Hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving~**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Hate this chapter, hate this story, hate everything, BLEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHH**

**To put things into context, I am SO burnt out from this NaNo project that, currently, I just can't write another word of it, lol. I am so just UGH over it that it is way too hard to actually get to a thousand words a day. I mean, I hit 50k back on the 14th, so I technically beat NaNo, but eh... Was hoping to go for 100k**

**That doesn't look like it's going to happen, lol. Oh well~~ I just need a small break from this, I suppose. Because I forced myself through this and it's poop, so I'm like "Time to step back, Alexis, give yourself some breathing you."**

**Hopefully, that'll do my creativity and brain some good so I can get back to writing this again. :)**

* * *

><p>Kelsey was getting more and more anxious the longer the hours dragged out. Penguin was getting more and more giddy about his plans. He was so pleased with himself, so happy that his plan was coming together, even though she knew that it shouldn't have been.<p>

Christ, just what was Bruce doing?! His entire company and its employees were at stake! Was he seriously feeling threatened by the fact that Penguin had her held hostage? She wasn't important enough for him to be worried about something like that! His focus should have been Gotham, should have been the city as a whole. She was just one person, one person that didn't matter compared to the lives of everyone else.

Then again, she wasn't doing anything to help herself either. While she knew she couldn't do much, she hadn't even thought about escaping on her own. Not once! She couldn't just wait around and hope for Batman to save her… She knew that he would try, yes, but she could have at least found a way out of here herself!

She had grown too… comfortable here. She wasn't even sure if that was the right term, but it was the best word she had at the moment. With Croc here, she didn't feel in so much danger… Especially after what he had done for her already. If it wasn't for him…

Kelsey hugged herself tightly, burying her face into the sheets. Croc… She hadn't seen him since he had saved her. She hoped that he wasn't in too much trouble for what he did. The Penguin could be incredibly strict, especially with his temper. She didn't want him to get in trouble for saving her.

Then she shook her head. She didn't need to worry about him; Croc was more than capable of taking care of himself. She needed to be more worried about herself. Time was running out and she was getting more and more anxious as time went on. Besides, it would have been nice to escape from here while she was still in the normal clothes Croc had stolen for her… Though that was the least of her concern at this point.

She sat up on the bed and rubbed her eyes. Glancing at the grandfather clock on the wall, she gave a heavy sigh. It was two in the morning… She needed to get to bed. She would deal with this tomorrow. Maybe things would be better tomorrow. She just needed to-

She heard a thud and harsh groan outside her door, making her eyes widened. Oh God, who was that? Was someone else out there that wanted to – no, not again!

She quickly looked around the room, trying to find anything sharp or solid to use to defend herself with. The only thing she could find was a lamp on the side table, but it would due for now. A silly weapon, but it was better than nothing at all… And when she heard the doorknob jiggle a bit, she grabbed it and held it to her chest.

Slowly, she stood up from the bed, never taking her eyes off of the door. She forced herself into the back corner, curling up into herself as she watched the door slowly opened. Her hands tightened around the small lamp, terror rising inside of her chest as she heart pounded like a drum. Who was that? Oh God, who was that?!

And when the door opened, the lamp fell out of her hands when she saw who had stepped into the room. Batman… It was Batman… It was Bruce. Bruce was here, he had come for her, had come to save her… She didn't even realize how badly she was shaking until she slowly stepped out from the corner of her room and into the light.

She almost called out his name, but quickly remembered that there were cameras and that the men watching probably already noticed that he was in here-

Her thoughts were interrupted when sirens started going off, causing her to gasp. Oh God, they were coming here! They were going to kill her! She attempted to find a place to hide, but suddenly Batman was right in front of her and over by the window, spraying something on it. She didn't have time to react when he suddenly grabbed a hold of her and pushed her down on the ground, shielding her with his body. Then there was the sound of something exploding, causing her to shriek as the ground shook violently, throwing her off balance.

She was disoriented and confused from the explosion, only to be even more thrown off guard when Batman pulled her to her feet, lifting her up as he wrapped his arm tightly around her waist. Everything was happening so quickly, so fast… She could hear men shouting, footsteps rushing towards the room, making her hands shoot up to grab at the other, looking back at the door as she could see armed men running into the room.

"It's the Bat!"

She gasped and held onto her rescuer tightly, only to have her eyes widening in fear when he started moving towards the now wide-open hole in the wall to reveal the outside world. Was he seriously thinking of jumping?! She had no choice but to hold on tightly, burying her face into his neck as she prayed that she would make it out of this alive.

They started shooting at them, but Batman had already jumped out. It took everything in Kelsey to not scream, crawling her nails into his suit as she felt them fall. And fall. And continuously falling. For a split second, she thought that made they had been both shot and they were both dead or at least falling to their deaths.

It never happened though. They were suddenly flying up into the air before Batman landed on a solid surface, allowing Kelsey's feet to finally touch the ground. But she was unable to let go though, still shaking and keeping her head pressed into his shoulder. She almost didn't think what had happened was real. It had happened so quickly… It was almost like a dream. A very realistic and terrifying dream.

Maybe that was all it was. Just a dream. She had actually already fallen asleep a while ago. The entire thing had just been her imagination playing with her because she was under stress… It didn't help with what almost happened the other night. Once she woke up, she would definitely need to try some relaxation exercises.

"Kelsey."

… For a dream, his voice certainly sounded real. Almost too real… And now that she thought about it, it was a little too cold.

"You're safe now."

She had to blink a few times to focus. No… No, she wasn't dreaming. She wasn't lying in bed, she wasn't even in her room. She was… outside. Holding on tightly to her rescuer, whose arm was still wrapped around her waist. She pulled back from the shoulder she had kept her face hidden in, slowly looking up to see Batman looking down at her with concerned eyes.

Kelsey didn't even realize she had let out a breath she had been holding, moving her hands from his shoulders to wrap around his neck. His arms immediately came around her, holding her close as he cupped her head, his hand gripping at her back.

"Bruce…! Oh God, Bruce…!" Kelsey couldn't keep herself from sobbing, shaking hard as she held on tightly to the man. He was here… He was here. And she was out of that room. She was safe. Batman had saved her… Tears trickled down her face as she held on tighter to the other, unaware of his own feelings but not even caring to think.

Batman was beside him for a moment, content with just holding the woman to him. He had been so worried… So grateful that he got to her on time. Now he just needed to hide her somewhere safe before he want to take down Penguin and bring him in. Not to mention he had to think of a way to make sure that no one else would ever think that she was romantically involved with him. He could only be with her as Bruce… Never as Batman. It would only lead to more hellish situations like this and only put her life more in danger. He couldn't have that…

Which made him realize that he was still holding her. Quickly, he released her, pushing her away from him, though he kept a firm grip on her shoulders. Kelsey seemed shocked by the action, only to see the hard look in his eyes. Oh… Oh right, she couldn't be grateful or emotional yet. She may have been out of the room, but she had yet to actually escape.

Her eyes widened when he released her and stepped away from her. "W-Wait, Bruce–"

"We need to find a place for you to hide," he said, scanning the area. "You'll have to stay there until I finish dealing with Penguin and Croc."

"B-But you–" Oh wait. The bomb! Did he know about it? "B-Bruce, Penguin! H-He's going to destroy–"

"I know; he's been constructing the bomb in the old shoe factory downtown. He's been working on this for months, I can imagine."

Oh… Of course he already knew this. Now she just felt incredibly foolish and useless, biting her bottom lip as she glanced around the area, also trying to find a place where she could possibly hide.

There was nowhere for her to hide on this roof. It was completely flat and barren, two sides of it blocked off by walls to the Iceberg Lounge. She turned her head to look across the way, squinting her eyes to see better. Damn how she hated no having her glasses…

Glancing up, she could see a small shack on the roof of the building across from the lounge. That could work. She turned to him, seeing that he was also looking in the same direction she had just been looking at.

"I-I could hide up there…" she said, pointing up. "They wouldn't suspect that I–"

He nodded, approaching her to pick her up again. That would have to do for now, since he couldn't take her anywhere too far. Not without risking losing Penguin and having him escape somewhere.

But before he could lift her up again, a roar ripped through the air, the sound of glass shattering echoing behind them. Batman and Kelsey turned, heads jerking up to see that Croc had broken down one of the windows above and was now jumping down below. Kelsey nearly screamed, but Batman pushed her behind him and moved himself in between her and the man who jumped down on the hard floor, causing the ground to shake and Kelsey to fall back on her bum.

"Stay behind me," Batman ordered, never taking his eyes off of the mad monster before him, who just glared at him with murder.

A laugh came from above, Kelsey and Batman glancing up to see Penguin standing there with two women who each had their own rifles on them. He was smirking down at the scene before him, clearly enjoying the act that was playing out.

"So, you thought you'd try and break our little deal, eh?" Penguin called out to Batman. "I told you not to interfere with my plans… or else I'd give you back your girl in a body bag."

Croc snarled at the threat, but it looked like the Bat just thought he was growling in general. He had to get Kelsey away from him… And if the Penguin wanted to kill her, he would have to try and convince the fat fuck to let him do it. Take her down to his lair and hide her there and make him think that he ate her alive. Of course, now, he had to be concerned over the Bat and get him off of his trail.

Batman glanced at his surroundings. He had to get Kelsey off of this rooftop. Now. There was no point in hiding her now, not with all eyes on him and the woman trembling behind him.

"You're gonna die, Batman!"

Kelsey screamed when she saw Croc charge in their direction. She moved to stand up, but Batman was quicker. Before she could react properly, Batman had grabbed a hold of her and pulled at what looked like a grappling hook, shooting it up onto the ledge of the high above them. She nearly screamed again as they zipped up into the air, holding onto him tightly as Croc barely missed them.

"Don't just stand there!" Penguin snarled at the women next to him. "Shoot him!"

They didn't need to be told twice, firing at the man zipping through the air. Kelsey shrieked as bullets flew past them, purring her face into his chest. But they were soon on solid ground again, Batman dropping Kelsey to her feet.

"What-?!"

"Stay here," he demanded before turning away again.

"W-Wait, Batman-!"

But he already jumped back down into the battle arena below before she could get out her sentence. Quickly, she rose to her feet and rushed over to the ledge, staring down at the fight in horror. More of Penguin's men had already come out to help Croc fight the man, Croc using charge attacks for the most part as he tried to take swipes at Batman. The other thugs were trying to grab a hold on him, beat him down and get him on the ground.

Kelsey could only watch in fear, trembling at the sight before her. She wanted to do something. She wanted to stop this! But there was nothing she could do… She was useless. She was just a doctor at Arkham; she wasn't Oracle or Catwoman or anyone of that nature. Just a useless civilian that could only depend on Batman to save her when this sort of thing occurred…

She stiffened a bit when she met eyes with Croc. His gaze wasn't of anger nor did he hold any malice in the gaze, but she couldn't help but to stiffen up in fright. He was looking at her… She could clearly see what he wanted. He wanted to get to her. He probably wanted to carry out Penguin's order and kill her right in front of Batman. She had to back away from the ledge, terrified as to what would happen if she grew too close.

Once she disappeared from his sight, he turned back to the Bat. He had easily taken down the other thugs, but he wasn't surprised. They were useless grunts anyway, only good for taken orders and brawling with each other. Worthless… And Penguin must have known it too, who seemed to be getting angrier and angrier the longer this dragged out.

"The hell I pay you for if you're just gonna fall down after a few kicks!" he shouted at the men. "Useless bastards…" His gaze then shifted to Croc. "You! Take care of the Bat and you can have the girl for your own little meal!"

Damn, he didn't think it would be so easy… He turned to Batman, whose eyes were narrowed at him. He had to laugh. For someone he wasn't romantically involved in, he was certainly getting defensive over the woman… Too bad for him though. Kelsey was his doctor and belonged to him. No way in hell he would let this bastard take her away. Besides, it wasn't as if he could actually keep her safe. The more she was around this bastard the bigger the target on her back got.

Whatever. Once he killed this guy, it wouldn't matter anymore.

"I'll rip the flesh off of your bones when I'm done with you."

But just as he took a step forward, he heard the sounds of helicopters come from behind him. He jerked around to see two GCPD helicopters behind him, lights and guns directly aimed at him and the Penguin, who was trying to shield his eyes from the blinding lights.

"The bloody hell-?!"

"Cobblepot!" someone called out through the second helicopter. "You're under arrest! Remain where you are or we will shoot!"

Croc snarled to himself before looking back to Batman. He should have fucking figured he would have gotten the cops for this one. He glanced up at one, seeing that it was moving over to the rooftop where Kelsey was. He gritted his teeth together as his hands balled up into fists as he watched her get into the chopper before she disappeared inside of it.

He had little options here. He could fight the Bat and risk getting taken down by the cops or escape into the sewers. As much as he wanted to rip Batman in half, he wanted to get Kelsey back… And not because Penguin needed her for some bullshit operation. He was going to prisoner tonight, so he no longer mattered to him.

"It's over, Croc."

He growled when he heard the Bat's voice, watching him step closer to him.

"Give up."

He gave one last glance at the scene around him. He could get out of here. Easily. He just needed to make it quick and he couldn't waste anymore time. Fuck the Penguin and his stupid bitches; he was getting out of here. Penguin already gave him his money, he would survive without any of the bastard's bonuses.

Turning back to Batman, he smirked and stepped back. "Not today, Bat… I'll find you again. Count on it."

Just as he saw the man move, he jumped off the rooftop onto one a shorter distance from him and took off running. Batman almost started chasing after him when he heard gunshots being fired from the Penguin and his women. He watched as one of the other helicopters started chasing after Croc, firing at him. He would have to focus on the Penguin.

At least he had gotten Kelsey out of here and some place safe.

* * *

><p>Kelsey was sitting in one of the offices of the Gotham Police Department. She had a blanket wrapped around her and had been given some water earlier. Penguin had been caught and arrested and his plan had been foiled. Apparently his bomb had been disarmed and they were taking it apart, piece-by-piece so they wouldn't have to worry about it taking out half of Gotham.<p>

She sipped her drink again, gripping her cup tightly. Croc had gotten away though. The helicopter had chased him down until he disappeared into the sewers. Batman had said he would go after them as soon as he tied up a few loose ends, whatever that meant. She honestly didn't know, but it truthfully wasn't any of her business either. She was just glad to be out of there.

"Lunar."

She blinked and looked up, seeing Gordon enter the room as he shut the door behind him.

"How you feeling?"

"I-I'm all right…"

"You need to go to a hospital?"

She shook her head before taking another sip of her water. "I'm fine, Gordon… Just tired."

He had to give a small laugh to that. She had to have been after what she had gone through. Held hostage in the Iceberg Lounge for a little over a weak? He would have figured most people would have been in hysterics. Then again, she did work at Arkham… Most doctors there were good at keeping their cool, as they had to be.

Still, what would Cobblepot want with her? She wasn't an engineer or anything of the sort… He would have asked Batman, since he figured he would have known. Still, like always, he had disappeared without a trace before Gordon had a chance to ask anything about why Kelsey was there in the first place.

Maybe she knew; it would certainly help him file a report as to why Cobblepot did it.

"Lunar."

She looked back up at him.

"Got any idea as to why Cobblepot kidnapped you?"

She bit her bottom lip and looked down at her hands. Was it all right for her to tell him? Bruce didn't say that she couldn't… but would it just get her into more trouble? Still, she didn't want to keep anything from the police when such information could potentially help them, especially if they were going to take Penguin to court… And considering what he had done, she wouldn't be surprised.

"I… Penguin was mistaken and believed that… Batman and I were in a relationship," she mumbled, somewhat embarrassed by admitting the idea aloud. It didn't help when she saw the surprised look Gordon gave her. "H-He mistook Batman comforting me as a sign of romantic love… A-And he tried t-to use me to keep him away…"

Gordon wasn't sure what to say to that. He couldn't actually believe it. Cobblepot actually thought Lunar and Batman were together? Sure, she was a pretty girl, but Batman didn't have time for things like that. These guys must have been getting desperate if they would have thought that Batman would have a girlfriend, let alone one who was a defenseless civilian.

He huffed and shook his head. "Well, you're safe now. Seems like Wayne is going to come by later to pick you up."

"Huh?"

"Wayne said he would be by to come get you. He says it's probably not safe for you to go home just yet, which is true."

Bruce? Why would he be wasting his time with her again?! He had much more important matters at hand! She was fine now! He didn't need to worry about her… So why? Why wouldn't he just focus on the matter at hand?! He needed to find Croc, not take care of her… She would be fine by herself. She could always just crash at a friend's place. He didn't need to go out of his way to take care of her…

Then again, he was probably just being cautious. Croc was still out there… No doubt he was furious about how she had gotten away and Penguin had been locked up. There went some of his pay right now. She remembered what he had told her about those who cheated him out of his money. He was never merciful… Did he also view her escape as her cheating him? She wouldn't be surprised…

Great. Now she felt even more anxious than before. She just wanted to go to sleep… It was four in the morning. All she wanted was to curl up into a warm bed in a room that wasn't been monitored by guards and cameras, no longer having to suffer under the feeling that she was being watched by some animal in a cage.

Oh well. She just hoped that Bruce had some decent pajamas for her.

* * *

><p>Alfred had been the one to pick her up from the police station, much to her surprise. Apparently, Bruce was busy with "other things" and sent him in his place. Well, at least it was nice to know that he was still working hard to locate Croc… But if he hadn't found him yet, then Croc must have been avoiding him on purpose and wasn't trying to fight or kill him.<p>

Of course, that was all speculation and she was really too tired to think too deeply about it. In fact, when she had gotten to Wayne Manor, she didn't even bother taking a shower when Alfred escorted her to her room. She just crawled right into bed and crashed, sleeping hard until she woke up at one in the afternoon, as embarrassing as that was.

Luckily for her though, no one seemed to mind or even care as no one had ever come into her room to try and wake her up, which she appreciated. Still, she forced herself to roll out of bed and take a nice long and warm shower. It certainly felt nice, especially comparing it to how long it had been since she took a relaxing shower. Most of the time, she was too busy trying to make her shower as quick as possible so no one could see her for long periods of time.

To make it even better, when she went to change clothes, she had normal clothes to wear. Nothing like what Penguin made her wear. Normal clothes that weren't tight or sexy, but were comfortable and boring. Just as she wanted it. She never would have thought she would have gotten so happy over a long sleeved light blue shirt and dark jeans before, but she was forever grateful for the clothes. It was almost sad really, but she paid no mind to it for now. No one else seemed to care, so why should she?

Taking a deep breath, she left the room and headed down the stairs towards the kitchen. Bruce should be awake by now… She hoped the man had gotten enough sleep, considering how late he was out. He did have impressive stamina, but he was still only a man.

She poked her head into the kitchen, seeing that Bruce, dressed in comfortable black slacks and shirt, was leaning against the counter having a cup of coffee. He perked up when he noticed her standing there.

"Kelsey?"

She gave a small smile and stepped into the room. "G-Good afternoon, Bruce."

He didn't say anything and simply stared at her for a few moments, making her bite her bottom lip. Now she felt a little awkward… She wasn't sure how to react now. He had just saved her last night… and surely Bruce knew why they had kidnapped her in the first place, which made things seem even more self-conscious.

Did he think it was his fault? She hoped that wasn't the case… He hadn't done anything wrong. He had just hugged her and those men misunderstood it. While yes, Bruce did have… feelings for her, that hug hadn't been anything romantic. She didn't even hug him back when that happened! It was just a misunderstanding, an accident… Still, she could tell from Bruce's posture and gaze that he was feeling some guilt toward what happened. That, somehow, it had been his fault she had gotten involved.

She bit her bottom lip as she stepped up to him. "Bruce?"

"… Did you sleep well?"

"Eh?"

"How did you sleep?"

"O-Oh, um…" All right, that had caught her off guard. She wasn't expecting him to talk so soon… But maybe it was just him trying to have conversation and not have such a tense atmosphere. "I-I slept fine. What time did you get in this morning?"

"I don't remember."

"… Did you find-?"

He was already shaking his head.

"Oh…"

And then they fell into an awkward silence again. She bit her bottom lip and looked around the room. She had to say something, anything. This was way too tense for her liking… But when she tried to think of something to say, nothing came out of her mouth.

Finally, Bruce spoke again. "I'm sorry."

Her eyes widened. He was apologizing. What for?! He hadn't done anything wrong! Oh, wait, she hadn't told him that she felt that way… She had yet to say that everything was okay, that nothing was his fault. Of course he would blame himself for something that was out of his hands. It was just like his parents; he always blamed himself for the misfortunes of others, feeling like he couldn't save them.

"No… No, Bruce." She stepped over to him and wrapped her arms gently around his side. "You didn't do anything wrong."

He didn't move to return her hug, just standing there with a blank look on his face. "It's because of me that you got into this mess."

She shook her head again. "No… No, Bruce, it's not your fault. It just happened; it was just an unfortunate accident."

Bruce said nothing in reply. Unfortunate accident? No… No, it was his doing. He was the reason that Penguin thought he could use her. Because he made it seem like he was in a relationship with her. Not only had she been kidnapped, but he had allowed so many others to get hurt through because Penguin had something on it. They were not a couple, no; but that didn't mean he didn't have any feelings for the woman. Feelings for a woman he almost let get killed, along with so many others.

Kelsey's arms tightened around his side. Why couldn't he understand? Why couldn't he see that this was just Penguin? He had done nothing wrong, nothing at all. He didn't cause this to happen. It just played out like that.

"Bruce…"

"I'm sorry, Kelsey."

"Please, don't apologize," she murmured, pressing her face into his arm as she shook her head. "You never did anything wrong… Please, believe me. I will never see this as your fault."

Bruce said nothing again. Of course she wouldn't; she was too kind to place the blame rightfully on him. Kelsey didn't understand though. His love for her caused all of this. His love was what had put her in danger in the first place. Just as it always seemed to do… Just how toxic of a person was he? His parents, Alfred, Barbara, so many others… Dead or scarred because of his actions, because of him.

And now even Kelsey fell under that category. He hadn't been able to protect her and allowed her to have such a nightmarish experience… Hell, he didn't even know what had actually happened to her during her time as Penguin's hostage. How badly had she been hurt? Had she been tortured? And Croc had been there too… He had to have hurt her. Somehow, someway…

And yet, he allowed him to get away. Croc had been able to evade him and now he was lurking in the sewers, plotting God only knew what. Her life was probably still endangered because of him… Croc would want revenge and if he was still under the impression that they were lover, he didn't doubt that Croc would go after her and try to kill her, slowly, painfully, and tortuously.

Slowly, he moved his arms to put down his coffee and wrap them around the small woman hugging her. She was a bit surprised by the gesture, but just kept her face pressed into his chest as she hugged him tighter.

"Kelsey…"

"Yes?"

"… Maybe… Maybe we shouldn't…"

She looked up at him, confused by what he was trying to say. Btu she could tell from his stance, his head turned and looking away from her, his eyes having trouble focusing, that whatever he was trying to say, he was doing so very reluctantly.

"Bruce?"

"… If it's too dangerous for you to be around me, maybe… Maybe we shouldn't… see each other anymore."

Her eyes widened. Not see each other anymore? No! No, she didn't want that! Bruce was her friend! He was important to her! What had happened wasn't his fault! Besides, it was only as Batman, not as Bruce… She could still be around him when he was Bruce. They didn't need to stop seeing each other. They could still be friends as Kelsey and Bruce. Just not as Batman! That was what was dangerous!

"Please, Bruce…"

"No, no, Kelsey, it's–"

"Just not as Batman," she said firmly, reaching up to seize the sides of his face to have him look at her. "We… We shouldn't be around each other when you're Batman. But… But when you're like this… It's okay. No one will think wrongly if it's as Bruce Wayne with Kelsey Lunar. Okay? No one will think I'm with Batman. Okay? We can still be friends. We can still hang out with each other."

He said nothing to that, looking away from her.

Kelsey bit her bottom lip. Was that not good enough for him? Did he still worry? There wasn't a great risk if she was friends with him as Bruce. Why couldn't he have that?

Wait… Friends. Bruce… before she had been kidnapped, Bruce had told her… he loved her. And they had kissed. Twice. Once when he was drunk and the other she had kissed back. She had forgotten about that. She had forgotten his feelings… She was more than just a friend to him. He loved her, deeply. Of course he would want to protect her. And if distancing himself from her was the best way, then he would do it. For her.

She looked down at her chest. She didn't know what to do. He loved her beyond the point of friendship while she… still wasn't sure about her own feelings. She had been planning to think about what to do after that kiss, but that was before Croc had taken her to Penguin's nightclub. The kiss and Bruce's feelings were definitely the last things on her mind at the time.

But now though… Now she actually had time to think about everything. Did she love Bruce like he did her? Yes, he was important, and yes, she had… enjoyed the kiss, but that could have meant anything, not just love. He had been the first man she had ever loved and she had had a couple of boyfriends after him, though they didn't last nearly as long as her relationship with Bruce had. Was she simply missing affection?

No, no, that couldn't have been it. If it was simply affection she graved, she wouldn't have felt so… energized when he had kissed her that time. Like her entire body just came alive the second their lips touched. Had it been the same for Bruce? She could only imagine that that had been the case… Maybe… Maybe she really did love him. She had just tried to tell herself she didn't.

Her grip on the back of his shirt tightened. Romantic love, platonic love, whatever it was, Kelsey knew for a fact that she didn't want to stop seeing Bruce. He was too important to her… She didn't want to end their relationship simply because he was feared for her safety. It was only when he was dressed as Batman. That was the only time she wouldn't be able to be with him. As Bruce though… She could still be with him then. Especially if he loved her as much as he did.

"Bruce?"

The older man looked down at her to see that she was looking right back at him.

"Please… I still… I want to be with you," she murmured softly. "I… I don't want our friendship to end because of this. Please… Please don't push me away."

"I'm trying to keep you safe–"

"I love you, Bruce."

He stiffened when he heard that sentence. At first, he thought he had been hearing things. Love? She… Did Kelsey really just said what he had heard? Was his mind playing tricks on him? But he just continued to look down at the woman, Kelsey looking up at him with a serious face, though cheeks red with embarrassment.

"I… You-"

"I love you," she repeated, though this time, her voice was much softer and her cheeks turned a darker shade of red. It was true. She did love him. The same as he did her? She wasn't a hundred percent sure at that exact moment. But she did know that she didn't want to lose him and that her feelings for him, whatever they were, were strong. She wanted to be with him, whether it was as a lover or a friend.

Bruce wasn't sure if he was hearing things or not. Kelsey… It had been so long since she had ever said those words to him. Words that he had always wanted to hear… But no, he couldn't have heard right. Could he?

"Kelsey-"

She pressed a finger to his lips. "Please, Bruce… I… I want to be with you. S-So please… Don't end this… Please?"

It was enough for him to finally react. Her eyes widened and a small gasp escaped her lips when he suddenly pulled her in for a tight hug, keeping her pressed up against his strong body. She blushed, but didn't reject the hug, instead returning it as she buried her face into his chest. His heart was beating fast; was he all right? Or was he just surprised? Probably the latter since no one, not even her, thought she would ever say those three words to him again.

"… Are you sure?"

"W-What?"

"Are you…?" Bruce had to stop, his hands gripping her tighter than before. But then he quickly let go, not wanting to hurt her on accident. Once he found the right words, he took a deep breath and started again. "Are you… sure? Are you sure you're all right with… With someone like me?"

She nodded. Someone like him? God, of course she was! He was such a good man, a good person… How could she not be happy? And even if it wasn't deep emotional romantic love like it had been all those years ago, Kelsey knew that it could grow again. She did love him dearly, he was so important to her, and she didn't want to lose him.

"Kelsey…"

She gasped as her head was titled back, his fingers gripping the back of her head tightly. Lips suddenly crushed against hers, a hot tongue sliding into her mouth. She squeaked and gave a confused moan, but Bruce just held her tighter to him, clearly not wanting to let go. The harder and deeper the kiss grew, the more she started to melt into his embrace and kiss back.

There it was. That feeling of being alive, body on fire, energized… God, it felt incredible. She didn't want it to end. Her cheeks darkened a bit when she kissed back harder, Bruce's hands coming up to hold her face in place as his kiss grew even more aggressive. Damn, she was lacking practice – she couldn't remember the last time she had even kissed someone this hard before. But damn did it feel so good…

Bruce pulled back to stare into her face, both of them panting hard as they stared at each other for a few moments. She didn't get a good look at his face though as he suddenly pulled her back into a strong embrace, causing her eyes to widen.

"B-Bruce-?"

"I swear…"

She blinked, glancing up at him.

"I swear… This time, I will protect you," he murmured to her, burying his face into her hair. "I'll protect you. I won't let anything happen to you again… I swear this on my life, Kelsey."

She blushed, but gave him a small nod, allowing him to hold her tighter against his chest. Truth to be told, she was a bit… scared of this. What would happen from now on? Clearly, they were going to start a relationship again, but… Would it end like last time? With her walking out on him? Hell, would she even be able to handle the fact that her love was indeed the Batman? The same man that put her patients into Arkham?

She should have thought that out, but… For now, she could ignore it. She was just glad that he wouldn't leave her or stop being with her. She wouldn't have been able to accept that… She loved him. She couldn't let him leave. She just couldn't.

Kelsey could only hope that everything would work out for them this time and it wouldn't blow up in their faces.


End file.
